Injured Worker Crushed By The Stevedore Frame

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Just wondering if you had heard yesterday of the injured worker crushed by the Stevedore frame while discharging bundles of rebar that were not pre-slung from the hatch of a vessel in the Port of Vancouver. The hoist handle locking device had fallen into place while lowering the frame without the crane operators knowledge due to the vibrations within the operators cab and poor maintenance of said lock. The operator was unable to return hoist handle to neutral position causing the frame to land on cargo and crushing worker. Worker is in stable condition in Vancouver general hospital but is expected to have an extended long recovery period. As a crane operator myself, I’ve had this same incident occur without injuries or damage. Transport Canada Safety Officer gave direction to ship owners to modify the lock system so it would not happen again. All work stopped aboard vessel while investigation and modifications were performed by Crew. 
These neutral locking devices need to have a way to lock them in the open position to prevent further injuries to Longshore workers.




Cliff Wellicome The last picture shows how the locking device fell into position while the crane operator was hoisting down
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Ron Signorino Wow! I hadn't heard about this one Cliff, but will take the time to make inquiries with ILWU Canada and BCMEA. In general, the condition of ships cargo handling gear has never been what I would call "good." And notwithstanding the "shot in the arm" the subject of shipboard cargo handling gear was given within the upgraded ILO Convention 152, I still see many deficiencies aboard vessels flying many different flags. In the worst case scenarios, workers get killed and the shipowners get sued and are saddled with millions of dollars in adverse judgements/verdicts. What I've also found, is the general lack of ability for workers to identify the exact nature of the sub-standard gear and the wherewithal to refuse using it.

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