Skip to content

Person injured when leg slipped through floor hatch

What happened?

During routine inspection of an engine room, someone slipped thro ugh a loose floor hatch plate and sustained a cut wound about 3 cm on the shin of his left leg.

What were the causes? What went wrong?

Failure of screw connection between the floor hatch plate or covering and the underlying hatch support.  There had been no regular inspections of these floor hatches or their supports since vessel build. Not all floor covering hatches were designed with screwed supports. The inspection of the hatch supports was not a part of the vessel- specific planned maintenance system.

Actions

  • The screw connections for this hatch were replaced with bolts;
  • There was a check of the condition of the screw connections of floor covering and supports elsewhere;
  • Warning markings were applied to floor hatches in the engine spaces;
  • Periodic inspection of floors hatch covers and supports to be added to the vessel- specific planned maintenance system.

Members may wish to refer to


IMCA Safety Flashes summarise key safety matters and incidents, allowing lessons to be more easily learnt for the benefit of all. The effectiveness of the IMCA Safety Flash system depends on Members sharing information and so avoiding repeat incidents. Please consider adding [email protected] to your internal distribution list for safety alerts or manually submitting information on incidents you consider may be relevant. All information is anonymised or sanitised, as appropriate.

IMCA’s store terms and conditions (https://www.imca-int.com/legal-notices/terms/) apply to all downloads from IMCA’s website, including this document.

IMCA makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained in the documents it publishes, but IMCA shall 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.