INVESTIGATION

CASE 22
One Hand For You, One For Your Chips
Narrative
Late one evening a local fisherman was
seriously injured when he fell from a harbour
wall ladder (Figure 1) to the deck of the
fishing vessel below. The fisherman had been
attempting to board his boat, which was rafted
outboard of the one he landed on.
Due to a change in plans, the casualty’s fishing
vessel had remained in port an extra day,
which left him alone on board and with little
to do. In the evening, he decided to walk to a
local pub. After leaving the pub, he went to a
fish and chip shop and bought his supper. He
returned to the fishing vessel berth with his
food. On the way, he was seen by the boat’s
skipper, who drove past and saw that his
crewman appeared to be under the influence
of alcohol.
Later, the skipper decided to check that his
crewman had got on board safely. When he
arrived at the harbour wall ladder (Figure
2), the skipper saw the crewman lying
unconscious on the deck of the vessel below
(Figure 3), with his chips spread out around
him. He called the emergency services and
an ambulance soon arrived. The casualty
was treated on the scene by paramedics and
then taken to hospital for treatment. Despite
suffering serious injuries, he eventually made a
full recovery.
The distance from the top of the wall to the
deck of the boat was about 6m.
Harbour wall ladder
Figure 1
MAIB Safety Digest 1/2017
49