Lessons Learned: Cook Suffers Burns in Galley Incident

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A recent safety alert from the Marine Safety Forum (MSF) highlights a galley incident where a cook sustained burns while handling a pot of boiling water.

What happened

A cook sustained burns when lifting a pot of boiling water with a tea cloth to strain pasta. The cloth got entangled with a stove bar, causing the pot to tip and spill boiling water on the cook’s arm and hand.

The cook treated the burns with cold water and burn gel, but persistent pain led to a shore-side medical examination whilst the vessel was in port.

Cause

The immediate cause of the incident was the cook using a dish cloth to protect his hand from the heat of the pot. The cloth became entangled on the retaining bar around the stove, causing boiling water to spill onto his wrist.

Recommendations

A safety alert was shared within the members fleet of vessels to raise awareness of the incident and to emphasise the requirement to use appropriate PPE instead of a tea towel. The galley risk assessment was updated to include a new requirement for handling mitts: “Any materials (e.g., pots, pans) containing hot liquid are not to be overfilled, and dedicated handling mitts and correct utensils are to be used.”

It was ensured that all vessels without handling mitts ordered heatresistant, non-slip, waterproof mitts designed for handling pots. Additionally, the securing arrangement was modified to eliminate the snagging risk hazard by using a solid stainless-steel bar, aligning the arrangement with that of the remaining fleet’s vessels.

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Source: Marine Safety Forum