DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT:
At about 1300 hrs on February 7, 2008, an Able Body on the AHTS Superior Pacesetter got his right hand fingers pinched between the mooring line and bollard while tightening the mooring line.

The IP sustained injuries on his 3rd and 4th fingers, with both finger nails broken with about 1/3rd of the underside skin lost, and required 3 stitches in the 4th finger to stop the bleeding. He also suffered a chip fracture on the 4th finger.

He was treated by the barge medic and taken to Rantau Petronas clinic and then to Kuantan Medical Centre for further treatment. He was put on restricted work duty and scheduled for skin graft.

At the time of the incident the AHTS was moored to the riser installation barge SP1. While on his way to assist his co-worker to tighten the starboard stern mooring line, the IP noticed the port stern mooring line installed by his co-worker to be slack and proceeded to tighten the mooring line.

A large swell hit the stern of the AHTS causing the AHTS to heave and his right hand fingers were caught at the pinch point between the tensioned mooring line and the bollar.

CAUSAL FACTORS, ROOT CAUSES & CONTRIBUTING FACTORS:
The normal practice to pick up the slack in the mooring line is to uncoil it 1-2 turns from the bollard and pull it from its end until it is tight and then coil back around the bollard. The IP did not follow this practice.

He claimed that the line was tied too tight and he could not loosen it to pull from its end. At the time of the incident he was attempting to tighten the line by holding it outboard of the bollard and coil it around the bollard. In this posture his fingers were exposed to be pinched between the tensioned mooring line and the bollard when the vessel heaved.

The IP did not seek his co-worker’s assistance when he could not loosen the mooring line to pull it from its end nor wait for the sea to calm down before attempting to pick up the slack. All indications are that he was under pressure to get the job done and took a shortcut in executing the task without considering the sea conditions and the consequences.

ROOT CAUSES
The correct way takes more time and requires more effort.

RECOMMENDATION(S) / LESSON(S):

1. Reinforce worker compliance to safe work practices.

2. Enforce stop work policy for support vessels.

3. Ensure barge marine captain regularly visits support vessels and observe work activities and highlight unsafe work practices to the crew.

4. Enhance LPS training for support vessel crews for future projects.

5. Conduct team alignment for support vessel crews for future projects.

Note: As reported by HSE department. No editing.