New safety feature cost £899 to install
CHANGES have been made at the harbour after a man fell more than five metres onto the granite base in the Victoria Marina.
A metal hand rail took a few hours to design and just 45 minutes to install on D pontoon, where the accident happened. This took place four days after the incident, at a cost of £899.
Following the accident, Guernsey Harbours designed and implemented safety modifications to a number of its pontoons in consultation with the Guernsey Health and Safety Executive.
A Guernsey Harbours spokesman said that in a normal year, about 16,000 vessels use the Victoria Marina.
‘Our health and safety management system continually strives towards protecting the health, safety and welfare of all users,’ they said.
‘Guernsey Harbours operates a proactive and robust marina inspection programme that is delivered by our marina and technical services departments.’
Details surrounding the incident were revealed during a health and safety breach court case yesterday.
It was detailed how the variable nature of harbours and marinas meant there were no strict safety rules about what measures should be in place.
The case centred around a chain at the top of a gangway, which was too low and loose to prevent the fall.
But an expert who advised the defence said the arrangement was not uncommon.
Defence advocate Gordon Dawes said the defence’s expert said he and his colleagues had more than 200 years’ experience between them and had never seen an incident like this one.
Yet the use of chains on gangways was common, giving the example of Beaulieu River and the River Medway.
‘It’s quite a subtle defect in an arrangement, that could be found up and down the land,’ Advocate Dawes said.
The subsequent investigation found that while regular health and safety checks were made by staff around the harbour, these were not documented unless a defect was found.
The States recommends that all health and safety checks are documented.
The slack, low chains on D pontoon had not been flagged up as a concern.
It was noted during the investigation that there had been chains on 15 of the gangways for between 25 and 30 years and there had been no previous incidents.
Other pontoons in the area used a variety of methods to cover the gap at the top.
It is usually recommended that hand rails are between 90cm and 1.1m. high, depending on the context. But in this case the upper chain was only 52cm high.
