ROERBORG – fall accident in Oxelösund

Summary

On Sunday 15 October 2023 a fall accident occurred on the general cargo ship ROERBORG. The vessel was berthed in the port of Oxelösund and was loading steel products. One crew member had just manoeuvred the gantry crane that was on board for the purpose of lifting the cargo hold hatches off and on. The crew member began climbing down from the crane but lost their footing and fell down onto the quay. The crew member initially fell down onto a small platform on the lower part of the gantry crane, then over the platform railing and down over the railing that ran along the side of the vessel, before finally landing on the quay. The total height of the fall was just over 11 metres.

The crew member was seriously injured by the fall, but did not suffer permanent injuries. At the time of the accident the person was wearing several layers of clothing and a helmet with a chinstrap. The clothing and the personal protective equipment have probably mitigated the consequences.

The investigation shows that there were deficiencies in the fall protection arrangements on the gantry crane. The upper ladder was equipped with a protective cage that seems to have worked as intended. However, the platform under the ladder was too small or did not have surrounding protection that was high enough to catch the falling crew member.

The various fall protection arrangements seem to have been designed to be used on a level surface. In fact, the crane ran on an elevated cargo hold coaming along the side of the vessel next to the open cargo hold, which meant that the fall protection arrangements became insufficient for the actual fall height.

Causes of the accident

The reason why a crew member could fall overboard was that the fall protection arrangements were designed in such a way that they did not provide sufficient protection.

The underlying reason why the fall protection arrangements did not provide sufficient protection was that the design of the fall protection did not take into account the actual conditions that prevailed where the gantry crane was used.

Safety recommendations

The measures taken by the shipping company after the accident are considered sufficient and SHK sees no need to issue any recommendations.