Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2022)

Safety @ Sea

Danger: Manhole Covers hen discussing maritime tragedies, ? res, meters. Had I not stopped to tie my shoe I may have met my foundering and deaths in con? ned spac- maker at an early age. Others are not so lucky. es seem common. But what about falls I asked some colleagues about their experiences and was

W through open manhole covers? Not widely shocked at how quickly the topic of death came up. One inci- publicized, these highly dangerous accidents are often disas- dent relayed to me was that of a yard worker who fell through trous and sometimes fatal. Manhole covers are usually ? ush an open manhole cover, 35 feet into a chain locker, resulting with the deck and the last thing that we expect to see open. If in death. Shipyards were the predominant discussion, which opened the expectation is that they are roped off with tape or is reasonable as vessels do not commonly open ballast and line at several heights to call attention to the hazardous nature fuel tanks at sea. Normally work permits are ? lled out to show of the opening. What happens when a manhole is not roped what and where is open on board. However work permits and off, left open and no warning is made? Manholes, by design, tape are not a physical impediment to prevent falls. Seeing the are constructed to allow a crew member wearing an SCBA danger in the industry, Rustibus designed the Safe Edge line and protective equipment to enter in order to facilitate the res- of products. cue of a shipmate (SOLAS Chapter II-1, Regulation 3-6) . As SafeEdge (pictured below) is a protection cover that pre- such, the minimum size is 600mm x 600mm for on deck open- vents falls and other injuries associated with open manholes ings. While not large, an opening of this size is suf? cient for on-board vessels and platforms. The product is speci? cally the unaware to fall into, often a good distance down, resulting designed to allow ventilation and utilities to remain accessible in serious injury or death. while still covering the hole and protecting the crew. SafeEdge

I can personally testify to the fright experienced when near- was initially developed after a design student saw the need ly falling into an open hatch/manhole cover and having a near for a standardized method for securing open manholes, as the death experience. As a young third of? cer I was working on industry had not yet found a successful approach that would a break bulk vessel. Having gone down to a tween deck for cover all safety requirements. The numerous interpretations, my normal rounds, I nearly stepped into an open access cover from the industry, shaped the ? rst prototype of SafeEdge, but that was ? ush deck, not roped off and had a drop of about 20 have since then been redesigned and improved to become

Image courtesy Rustibus 12 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • September 2022

MR #9 (1-17).indd 12 9/5/2022 9:25:56 AM