Medical treatment: Person fell down unprotected hatch
- Safety Flash
- Published on 12 October 2016
- Generated on 23 January 2026
- IMCA SF 27/16
- 1 minute read
The MSF has published safety alert number 16-17 regarding an incident in which a shore-side foreman walked into the “safe haven” area of a supply vessel and stepped into an open manhole.
What happened?
Whilst he managed to catch himself and prevent a free fall of 5m into the tank, he nonetheless suffered a laceration on his shin requiring 3 stitches and bruising to the forearm.
The MSF noted the following causes:
- Lack of barriers to open manholes.
- Several different activities all occurring at once.
- Lack of coordination of those simultaneous activities.
The following corrective actions were taken:
- Covering of manholes with gratings during work.
- Ensuring that ongoing work is coordinated between the work parties in the same area, through toolbox talks.
Related Safety Flashes
-
IMCA SF 17/16
30 June 2016
-
IMCA SF 20/15
3 December 2015
-
IMCA SF 08/08
24 April 2008
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