Investigation of death on a narrowboat

[Cheshire cat]

In the event of an unnatural death on a boat (overcome by fumes etc) who is the investigating body and where would the results be published?

 

I am trying to find evidence of someone being overcome by fumes from the blacking they had just applied to their boat.

[Alan de Enfield]

20 minutes ago, Cheshire cat said:

In the event of an unnatural death on a boat (overcome by fumes etc) who is the investigating body and where would the results be published?

 

I am trying to find evidence of someone being overcome by fumes from the blacking they had just applied to their boat.

 

The MAIB investigate the deaths due to CO poisoning, exhaust fumes etc.

 

Example :

 

MAIB Report No 02/2015 - Arniston - Very Serious Marine Casualty (publishing.service.gov.uk)

 

For all enquiries: Marine Accident Investigation Branch

Mountbatten House

Grosvenor Square

Southampton

SO15 2JU

 

Email: maib (at) dft.gsi.gov.uk United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 (0) 23 8039 5500 SO15 2JU

Edited November 16, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[ditchcrawler]

Surly that will be the result of the inquest. I would imagine they are all in the public domain somewhere 

 

All inquests are public and anyone can attend. Reports of an inquest may be published in national and local newspapers, but in practice only a minority of inquests are actually reported. You can get a copy of an inquest report from the Coroner's Office when the inquest has concluded

[frangar]

20 minutes ago, Cheshire cat said:

In the event of an unnatural death on a boat (overcome by fumes etc) who is the investigating body and where would the results be published?

 

I am trying to find evidence of someone being overcome by fumes from the blacking they had just applied to their boat.

I would think if it was in a dock or yard it would be the HSE that investigates. If it was private land eg not a business premises then it would be a matter for a coroner. 

[Ray T]

MAIB?

 

Marine Accident Investigation Branch - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Edited November 16, 2023 by Ray T
TYPO

[magnetman]

MAIB do some investigations around boat deaths. 

 

Of course the acronym stands for 'messing about in boats'

 

Not sure if they always do trivial deaths on canal boats but they definitely do some. 

 

 

26 minutes ago, Cheshire cat said:

In the event of an unnatural death on a boat (overcome by fumes etc) who is the investigating body and where would the results be published?

 

I am trying to find evidence of someone being overcome by fumes from the blacking they had just applied to their boat.

 

 

Is this blacking applied to the outside of the hull or in a confined space such as a gas locker or water tank? 

 

I think someone did die a number of yars ago in a canal boat water tank but not sure if it was paint voc or fumes from a generator. 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

Who investigated when the chap fell into a drydock trying to access his boat? I would have thought HSE

[David Mack]

25 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Surly that will be the result of the inquest.

If an inquest is held. When my father died alone at home we were told that as there was nobody present the coroner had to be informed. The coroner's office then looked into the circumstances to decide if anything further needed to be done. In my father's case they decided that given his age and medical history, death was due to natural causes, so they closed the case and released his body for the funeral. 

In the OP's case much will probably depend on what cause is given by the doctor who certifies the death.

Edited November 16, 2023 by David Mack

[ditchcrawler]

4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Who investigated when the chap fell into a drydock trying to access his boat? I would have thought HSE

This w=one the HSE prosecuted so I guess they did the investigation  

 

A firm has been fined £50,000 over health and safety breaches following the death of a man at a dry dock.

Richard Ferris, 61, died following a fall at The Boatyard in Worsley, Greater Manchester, on 26 May 2010.

He had been working on his narrow boat when he fell head first to the concrete floor nearly 2.5m (8ft) below.

[magnetman]

 

Maybe the boatyard was unwise and offered him a ladder to get onto his boat. 

 

 

[TheBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

Maybe the boatyard was unwise and offered him a ladder to get onto his boat. 

 

 

 

Gangplank as it happens, from the edge of the dock to the boat.

[magnetman]

Ouch ! 

Is this where elfin safety meets darwin?

[matty40s]

35 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

Is this blacking applied to the outside of the hull or in a confined space such as a gas locker or water tank? 

 

I think someone did die a number of yars ago in a canal boat water tank but not sure if it was paint voc or fumes from a generator. 

 

Starvation for our chap, the M6 machine bolts wouldnt hold in the holes when we came to refit the water tank lid, so our occasional lad volunteered to hold nuts on the inside whilst we tightened the screws.

We only let him out as he still had the torch in there.

[Cheshire cat]

Thanks for everyone's replies. The alleged incident happened in a dry dock. The victim succumbed to paint fumes overnight so I doubt they were sleeping in the water tank or gas locker.

 

Haven't found anything to substantiate the story but thanks for telling me where to look. 

[Tracy D'arth]

I had a near event in a dry dock. Sleeping on board after a heavy day epoxy painting a boat, I woke in the early hours and felt very light headed.

After an hour outside the dock I felt better. Slept the rest of the night in the car.

[booke23]

57 minutes ago, Cheshire cat said:

Thanks for everyone's replies. The alleged incident happened in a dry dock. The victim succumbed to paint fumes overnight so I doubt they were sleeping in the water tank or gas locker.

 

Haven't found anything to substantiate the story but thanks for telling me where to look. 

 

In that case I’d have thought the HSE would be the investigating body. The MAIB are quite patchy when it comes to investigating inland boating fatalities, but always investigate sea going boating fatalities. So in this case, as the boat was in a dry dock and not even on the water, I imagine the MAIB will not investigate, 

Edited November 16, 2023 by booke23

[ditchcrawler]

I don't know who investigated this, I can only find reports of the death Man and his dog found dead in boat on Oxford Canal after suspected carbon monoxide poisoning - Mirror Online

[mrsmelly]

I will have an answer in a minute or two lol.

[magnetman]

CO poisoning is of course a well known and effective suicide method so it may not have been an accident.

 

[ditchcrawler]

The Marine Accident Investigation board looked into these inland deaths

 

 

[mrsmelly]

From the horses mouth

Who ever owns the dry dock has certain responsibilities because they are charging for the dock so classed as a commercial activity. Even if the deceased wasnt at work at the time. Local authority have their own health and safety inspecters  that regulate low risk activities HSE regulate high risk. It will depend on too many factors unknown on this post so could be either a local authority job or HSE.

[booke23]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

The Marine Accident Investigation board looked into these inland deaths

 

 

 

Yet they don’t investigate others 🤷‍♂️

[magnetman]

I still think there might be a 'marine' thing going on here.

 

Canals are not marine areas. Marine usually implies tidal.

 

 

[mrsmelly]

16 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I still think there might be a 'marine' thing going on here.

 

Canals are not marine areas. Marine usually implies tidal.

 

 

The MAIB did the investigation when the Nottingham Princess hit Trent bridge in Nottingham.

No I wasn't driving 👍

[TheBiscuits]

20 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

No I wasn't driving

 

Perhaps you should have been!