Real Life Incident: Ultra Violet Light Caused Eye Injury

Whilst changing the ultra violet (UV) lamp in the ship’s fresh water steriliser unit, a crew member inadvertently switched on the UV light and stared directly into it.

Later on in the day, he experienced irritation, redness, pain and temporary blindness in the eye. He was given first aid on board and subsequently was sent ashore for treatment.

Result of Investigation

1. The crew member was not wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), such as the shaded UVEX glasses which were available on board and would have filtered the UV light;

2. The crew member did not read the warning notice posted at the site, which outlined the hazards of UV light.

Root cause /contributory factors

Non-compliance with procedures:

1. No risk assessment was carried out to understand the hazards related to the task;

2. Lack of compliance with the company PPE matrix.

Reference & Image Credits: nautinst

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