A pressure washer is like a loaded gun, warns The Nautical Institute in its latest Mars Report. In the accident described, a water jet penetrated the safety shoe of a crew member on board a tanker.
The Nautical Institute gathers reports of maritime accidents and near-misses. It then publishes these so-called Mars (Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme) Reports (anonymously) to prevent other accidents from happening. This is one of these reports.
Deck crew were performing maintenance on a tanker underway, de-rusting with a high pressure water-blast machine and then painting. A minimum of two persons were required for the task; one to handle the spray gun and the other to hold and manage the water hoses. The crew were working in pairs, swapping roles every thirty minutes.
After a full morning of this work, the crew returned to the job after lunch. At one point, the water jet was inadvertently turned towards the foot of the crew member handling the nozzle. The water jet penetrated his safety shoe just above the steel protection (photo, right) causing an injury to the foot. The victim was assisted to the ship’s hospital where first aid was administered.
Released from his duties for precautionary reasons, the victim visited a hospital at the first opportunity. No fracture was found by X-ray and no infection or skin necrosis was observed. He returned to full duties shortly after.
Also read: Crew member injured by pressure washer
Advice from The Nautical Institute
- A pressure washer is like a loaded gun – see also earlier Mars reports (201921 and 202337), which also highlight injuries due to this equipment. The water forces generated can cause severe injury when in contact with a person’s body.
- If a pressure washer is on, always hold the lance with both hands to have full control. Never point the lance at yourself or others.
- Proper PPE will help reduce the severity of an injury, but is not infallible.
Also read: Pressure washer injures two crew
Mars Reports
This accident was covered in the Mars Reports, originally published as Mars 202430, that are part of Report Number 380. A selection of the Mars Reports are also published in the SWZ|Maritime magazine. The Nautical Institute compiles these reports to help prevent maritime accidents. That is why they are also published (in full) on SWZ|Maritime’s website.
More reports are needed to keep the scheme interesting and informative. All reports are read only by the Mars coordinator and are treated in the strictest confidence. To submit a report, please use the Mars report form.
Picture (top) for illustrative purposes (photo by Mark Schellhase, Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence).
Also read: Follow all steps when performing maintenance on your ship
