Safety Awareness Dispatch
SA 26-11 Falling Through Openings Mishaps
Fall-through hazards are a serious safety concern in shipboard and industrial environments where open hatches, removed deckplates, ladderwells and other deck openings are present. A fall through one of these openings can lead to severe injuries and may create additional risk to personnel responding to the incident. The following mishaps highlight how quickly these incidents can occur and reinforce the importance of properly securing deck openings and maintaining effective barriers and markings to ensure clear communication during daily operations.
| Published: | June 2, 2026 |
The Safety Awareness team creates concise, readable (and sometimes funny) safety lessons to help Sailors, Marines and civilian employees (and their families) avoid repeating a mishap. Our goal is to make people think! We do our best to tell a story that people will remember – that they’ll recall when going through their normal day – that empowers them to identify hazards, accept “ownership” and responsibility for those hazards (in their community, command, and home), and take action.
