2011X40 Serious Personal Accident Rigging Stanchions

Serious Personal Accident Rigging Stanchions

Official New Zealand Report

The following is a report by the Maritime Safety Authority of New Zealand into a serious accident on a timber carrying vessel. It is published in their Maritime Accidents 1999-2000.
www.msa.govt.nz/Publications

Key Events

19 June 2000
21:54 The vessel Pactimber arrives in Tauranga harbour. She makes fast, starboard side to, Number 11 Berth in Mt. Maunganui.

20 June 2000
04:00 - 07:00 The Bosun and Seamen raise four sets of collapsible log stanchions on the port side of the deck.

07:00 Loading commences and the remaining stanchions on the port side are raised later in the day. The Bosun is off duty for most of the night on 20th and 21st June, and is called out only occasionally to close hatches or mark off cargo.

22 June 2000
The Bosun and two Ordinary Seamen are on duty from 08:00 to 12:00 hours and from 13:00 to 17:00 hours.

22:30 They are called to close and secure the No. 2 hatch cover, which is completed by 22:48 hours.

23:30 They are called to raise the stanchions at the No. 2 starboard side hatch.

23 June 2000
01:30 They are called to raise the stanchions at the No. 4 starboard side hatch.

01:45 The Bosun and two Ordinary Seamen start to raise the stanchions. One Able Seaman is operating the crane and the 2nd Mate, who is in charge of the deck, is assisting. The stanchions have already been connected together by chains and are raised as a group by hauling up the foremost stanchion with the ship's crane. During the process, the crew place bights of the foot wires over the top of the stanchions and attach the end links of the lashing chains to hooks situated near the top of the stanchions.

The forward stanchions in the row are not hinged and it is possible for the crew to lift wires and chains to the required height whilst standing on deck, but the two aftermost stanchions are hinged so that when lowered they will stow up against the permanent stanchions abaft the number four hatch. Their tops are out of reach to persons standing on deck. The row of stanchions is partly raised and the Bosun signals the crane driver to stop hoisting. The crane driver stops the crane and places the locking mechanism over the control lever. The Bosun then climbs up the ladder of the hinged stanchion in order to fit the chain to the hook near the top. As the Bosun is climbing down, he places his feet on the bottom section of the aftermost stanchion. The hinged stanchion, immediately forward of the one he was standing on, jerks backwards, trapping his feet between the two stanchions. The 2nd Mate signals the crane driver to raise the stanchions sufficiently to clear the Bosun's feet.

The Bosun is laid on the deck and attended to by one Seaman, whilst the 2nd Mate and another Seaman bring the medical bag and stretcher. They alert the Master and Mate and telephone for an ambulance. The Bosun's feet are severely injured and torniquets are applied to control the bleeding. After about 10 minutes, the ambulance arrives and medical personnel take him to Tauranga Hospital. After an inspection of the site by the Maritime Safety Authority (MSA), Pactimber resumes loading and sails from Tauranga on Saturday 24 June. The Bosun remains in Tauranga Hospital.

Key Conditions

The Bosun was in charge of the rigging of stanchions. He went to sea in 1974, but did not work continuously on ships. Since 1989 he had served as Bosun for six contracts, each of about nine months duration. He had served on other log ships and had raised log stanchions many times on different ships, although Pactimber was the first ship he had been on with that particular arrangement of log stanchions. He joined Pactimber on 27 May 2000.

The Bosun and two Ordinary Seamen were day workers and the Able Seaman kept watches. The Bosun had a full night off on Wednesday night, but since the completion of day work at 1700 hours on Thursday, had been called out once to close hatch covers and twice to raise stanchions. There was a comprehensive training schedule for the crew although the ship's procedures did not give detailed instructions on raising log stanchions. However, the deck crew were familiar with this operation.

The Bosun was trained by the Chief Officer in operating the ship's gear and in rigging stanchions. The previous Bosun had remained on board for one day to familiarise the new Bosun with the ship. The 2nd Mate, Able Seaman and two Ordinary Seamen, stated that the Bosun was in the process of lifting a foot wire over the top of a hinged stanchion when the accident happened. The Master and the Mate were also under the impression that this is what he was doing. The Bosun stated that he had lifted a lashing chain to attach it to a hook at the top of the stanchion and that he had climbed up the stanchion ladder and it was while descending that he stepped from the ladder into the gap between the two hinged stanchions. One Seaman stated that he had not seen the Bosun step on the stanchions before. The other Seaman stated that he did see him stand on the stanchions and that an Able Seaman had told the Bosun that it was dangerous to do so.

The Bosun stated that he was lifting chains, not wires, and that there was no other way to hook chains to the tops of the folding stanchions except by lifting them by hand. He stated that on the port side, the Able Seamen had used the same method to hook up the chains. While the Bosun was standing on a stanchion, the stanchion immediately forward and above it, jerked back suddenly. None of the witnesses were sure why it had moved. The stanchions and chains formed a flexible assembly. It was thought that the movement could have been caused by either the shackle on the chain, connecting the stanchion to the one immediately ahead of it, sliding in its pad eye, or by a bunch in the chain becoming untwisted. The Bosun and other witnesses said that the crane did not slack away to cause the accident. The Bosun wore safety shoes which were sliced through behind the steel toe caps on both feet.

Contributing Factors

The Bosun and day workers were called out three times during the night to secure hatches and rig stanchions.
The Bosun stepped between two collapsible stanchions.
Cause

While raising collapsible log stanchions, the Bosun stood between two hinged stanchions. The upper stanchion jerked back slightly, trapping his feet and causing serious injury.

Opinions and recommendations

It is recommended that Lasco Shipping training procedures be amended to include a warning to crew about the dangers of standing on log stanchions during rigging operations.
It is recommended that the MSA provide details of this accident to ships' agents to be circulated to other log ships and to New Zealand shippers of logs.
Ship owners and shippers should be made aware of the increased risk of accidents when personnel are called out to perform additional duties during the night. This recommendation does not imply that the Bosun or crew were fatigued, but that interruptions to their sleep during off duty hours are likely to lead to their being less vigilant than they would be when operating during their scheduled work shift.