Lost time injury (LTI): Hand injury
- Safety Flash
- Published on 26 October 2012
- Generated on 18 November 2025
- IMCA SF 11/12
- 2 minute read
A Member has reported an incident in which a worker sustained a serious injury to his right hand.
What happened?
The injured person was attempting to cut a small block of wood down to size to use as a spacer. Whilst using the mechanical workshop vertical band-saw his hand came into contact with the moving blade, causing a serious laceration to the back of the hand and resulting in tendon damage.
Position of hand and wood during incident
Band-saw with guard set to lowest position
Our Member’s investigation revealed the following:
- Immediate causes:
- The wood split during cutting due to the application of excessive force to the wood, which was caused by excessive wear on the blade and the incorrect positioning of the wood.
- A ‘Push stick’ was not used.
- An adjustable guard was not used.
- Root causes:
- Lack of hazard awareness/complacency – the injured person did not identify using the machine as a hazard and did not use the available safety guards and processes whilst operating the saw.
- Uncondoned behaviour/violation – the injured person identified a fault with the saw but continued to operate it without reporting the fault.
Our Member took the following actions:
- Workshop/Yard Induction form to be reviewed and updated to include specific mention of Safety Observation Card requirements, Stop the Job requirements and section relating to machinery operation and competence.
- Review of induction frequency requirements and inclusion into site management procedures.
- Prepare and issue pre-use checklists for each machine with requirements for inspection prior to use, following use and reporting requirements where faults have been identified.
- Implement locking e-stop system with controlled key access to prevent unauthorised use.
- Update risk assessment with lessons learned from incident investigation where pertinent.
IMCA Safety Flashes summarise key safety matters and incidents, allowing lessons to be more easily learnt for the benefit of the entire offshore industry.
The effectiveness of the IMCA Safety Flash system depends on the industry sharing information and so avoiding repeat incidents. Incidents are classified according to IOGP's Life Saving Rules.
All information is anonymised or sanitised, as appropriate, and warnings for graphic content included where possible.
IMCA makes every effort to ensure both the accuracy and reliability of the information shared, but is not be liable for any guidance and/or recommendation and/or statement herein contained.
The information contained in this document does not fulfil or replace any individual's or Member's legal, regulatory or other duties or obligations in respect of their operations. Individuals and Members remain solely responsible for the safe, lawful and proper conduct of their operations.
Share your safety incidents with IMCA online. Sign-up to receive Safety Flashes straight to your email.