Whenever there is a death, injury or even an allegation of injury on board, or in the vicinity of the ship, always inform the local Club correspondent, regardless of whether the injured person is a crew member.
General Procedures
• always investigate and complete your company’s accident report form (for all accidents not just for crew injuries);
• report the incident to your owner or manager;
• other than completion of your company’s accident report form, never make a formal statement or express an opinion as to what occurred. Complete your accident report form but do not give any other statement except to the lawyer appointed by the Club. This will be privileged and cannot be used against your employer in court;
• in the event of injury following an accident:
– in port, notify your owner or manager and the P&I correspondent;
– at sea, notify your owner or manager, obtain radio medical advice;
– as well as completing the accident report, write a detailed description of what occurred (these notes will help to refresh your memory during the subsequent interview with a lawyer);
– ask witnesses to write a detailed description of what they saw or heard (you will need a special form for this which is supplied by your owner or manager);
– if ship’s equipment or the ship’s structure was involved in the injury, examine the equipment, take photographs of the place where the accident is said to have occurred (and record the time and the date of photographs), retain and properly label broken pieces. Afterwards, obtain a copy of the maintenance record of the equipment and any applicable tests;
– conduct an inspection of the location where the accident occurred with the Club’s appointed surveyor or local correspondent;
– always keep detailed records of all medical treatment given on board and any independent advice received.
