Golden Helmet Award for oil terminal worker
March 12th 2009

Centurion was notified of an incident at Seal Sands Terminal in 2008, where an operative was protected from more serious injury by wearing a Centurion safety helmet.

The operator, Tony Rattan, was working on a jetty at the time, carrying out activities following the immediate arrival of a ship which was in the process of putting out its own gangway using its shipboard crane. The crane had lifted the gantry up in the air using a single webbing strap attached to rope lifting points at either end of the aluminium and steel walkway.

The crew were swinging it out over the ships side to span onto the jetty when one end eye of the sling became detached from the crane hook allowing the walkway to fall onto the ships deck and handrail and slide down onto the jetty area.

Mr Rattan was beneath the area at that time and was struck by the gantry. He was able to partially get out of the way but was entangled in the structure for a short time until he was able to extract himself and sit down on the jetty. First Aid was administered on site, and Mr Rattan was transferred to hospital by ambulance as a precautionary measure. His visible injuries included a small cut above his left ear and abrasions on his face.

In January, Mr Rattan was invited to Centurion, along with Seal Sands Operations Manager Mr Alastair Bulmer, for a tour of the manufacturing premises and to be presented with a Centurion “Golden Helmet”, in recognition of the fact that his injuries were greatly reduced by wearing his Centurion safety helmet.

This incident has reinforced to Tony and his colleagues an already strong belief in the importance of wearing a safety helmet. Tony’s safety helmet certainly saved him from serious, if not fatal injury.

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