A slip into the hold

A crew person was working on a bulkhead locking bolt at the forward end of a hold on a cargo vessel and slipped and fell to the bottom of the hold, resulting in an open fracture to the upper arm. The incident occurred after dark in rainy conditions. Wearing a safety harness with a lanyard and safety hook, the crew person used the recessed footholds in the side of the cargo hold to climb about 2.5m to access one of the bulkhead locking bolts, and attached the safety hook. The crew person was unable to reach the locking bolt and, using one hand to hold on, disconnected the safety hook and attempted to move it to another position. But instead, they slipped from the foothold and their hand slipped from the single handhold before the safety hook could be attached to a securing point, causing the fall.

Owing to difficulties in lifting a casualty out of the hold bottom, medical attention was administered at the scene for over an hour before the crew person could be transferred to hospital for further treatment.

To view this IMCA safety alert in full, click the 'Download Alert' button above and refer to section 5 of the document.