Loading logs onto vessels using grapples or grabs
We recently released a maritime update highlighting the serious risks of logs falling from grapples or grabs over excavators working inside vessel holds during loading.
When cranes lift and load logs into a vessel, any failure of the grapple, grab, or crane wire can result in equipment and logs dropping. If the crane is over the excavator, anything falling from the crane or grapple would hit it.
An excavator’s Falling Object Protective Structure is not designed to withstand the weight of a fully loaded grapple, meaning excavator operators could face severe harm.
We’re encouraging the sector to put strong engineering and technical controls in place to keep workers safe. The sector must also ensure it has ongoing reliable ways to monitor the effectiveness of its risk controls.
This update was released following proactive work with industry, unions and an independent crane expert reviewing log loading controls to ensure new developments in log loading operations were safe. This fits in with our regulatory approach of being a risk-based regulator focused on preventing harm across the maritime domain. We have collectively identified a risk and assessed both how likely it is to lead to harm and how serious that harm might be. We worked with our sector partners to publish guidance that gives them the information they need to understand the risk and effectively take action to prevent harm.