617 - 1/09 - Poor Design of Watertight Door - Worldwide

The Association would like to alert Members to a type of locking mechanism for watertight doors that creates a risk of personal injury.

The Club is handling a case where a crewmember suffered injury to his hand while operating the watertight door on a newbuild vessel. As can be seen from the images below, the operating handle passes over a vertical bar which is another moving part of the mechanism. The two parts create a scissor action whereby they come closer together as the handle is pushed down to close the door.