The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) yesterday announced the eighth nomination running to receive the Safety Award 2019 – Jan De Nul’s solution for protection of falling overboard from a dredger.
No one knows better than the crew of a dredger where the dangers lie on board a vessel.
When the crew of the Capitan Nunez, a Jan De Nul trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD), pointed out that the area where the trunnion is located is a risky spot, management was listening.
The trunnion is a part of a rotating joint that is inserted into cylinder that has moving parts. There are also open gaps in the railings at that spot because it is the exact location where the dredge pipe goes over the vessel’s side. It is also the spot where human intervention, such as checks of the pipe heads, is needed.
This gap in the railing at a point where people are actively working presents an obvious risk to someone falling overboard.
Acting on this observation, the crew of the hopper Capitan Nunez took it upon themselves to solve the problem and protect their own. Working with Jan De Nul’s Technical Department, they invented a system to close the openings in the railing. They designed, constructed and welded a railing that opens and closes simultaneously with every movement of the dredge pipe.
It creates a safe barrier between the working zone and the sea, without limiting the movements of the pipe.
This system is automatic and needs no manual handling.
The winner will be announced on 17 October 2019.