Breaking labor safety rules can cost a living

The criminal investigation into the death of a 23-year-old seafarer from the Astrakhan region has been continued. The motorman worked on board the m/v “OTA-947”.

The tragedy occurred in September 2019 at the anchorage in Aksaysky district of the Rostov region. The crewmember walked along the deck of the VD-3579 barge and fell into the empty cargo compartment due to a failure of the mechanism of the retractable hatch covers. From the injuries he died. Investigators believe that crew members may be guilty of the death of a guy.

The investigating authorities of the Southern Investigation Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case under part 1 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code:  Causing death by negligence.  It was reported by the resource «Region online» with reference to the press service of the Southern Investigation Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

As per Yevgeny Khizhnyak, the chief technical inspector of labor of the Seafarers Union of Russia, in this case officers of the OTA-947 and the administration of Araks LLC violated the requirements of the Rules on labor protection on river and sea vessels, as well as Art. 227-231 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

«In other words there was no fencing of the cargo hold of the VD-3579 barge, explained E. Khizhnyak. In addition, apparently, the investigation of the incident that occurred in September last year was carried out untimely. The SUR recalls that all crewmembers must strictly comply with existing procedures, rules and requirements for work on board the vessel. «In order to prevent an accident, in addition to passing training programs, it is enough to learn the Merchant Shipping Code, to observe various international maritime conventions and labor protection requirements. This is a guarantee of returning from the voyage safe and sound», - added the chief technical inspector of the SUR.