Accident

During the 2004/05 field season we moved more than 80 t of snow by manual labour for the drilling pits alone. While good working procedure avoided strains on backs etc., an insufficiently repaired shovel provided by SB caused an injury to the right-hand middle finger of Bayliss (Fig.7). The handle of the shovel had been fixed to the shovel rod with aluminium wire nails. When the wire nails broke while pushing forcefully down into rather dense snow, Bayliss' hand became trapped between the handle and the shovel rod. First aid was provided immediately and the blood blister underneath the fingernail was relieved by burning two holes into the nail. Despite Bayliss' intake of codeine painkillers the pain remained for the next 12 hours and the swelling increased. After discussions with the SB nurse, Bayliss was evacuated on 29 Nov and brought to MCM hospital. He received treatment and was able to come back into the field on 04 Dec. However, he was not able to use his right hand until we returned to NZ on 14 Dec. We are grateful for the quick and professional response by Scott Base staff to this situation.

Fig. 7 A) and B) excavating drilling pit at MES, C) injured finger of Bayliss

Avoided hazards:

Snow stairs: In previous years we cut stairs into the snow without further fortification, which proofed a hazard when carrying heavy equipment, such as full ice core boxes. For this reason we experimented this year with aluminium angles (Fig.8). These are anchored by about 15-20cm and protect the edge of the step. They are relatively light weight and performed extremely well.

Fig. 8 Aluminium stairs in the drilling pit.

Drilling Tent: This year we used for the first time a new tent designed by Pyne (Fig.9) to protect not only the core processing pit, but also the drilling crew. This was essential for windy conditions as we expected and experienced especially at Mt Erebus Saddle. The tent performed extremely well, even in 50+knots of wind and blowing snow. The tent only stands 1.5m above the ground, with a 3-4m deep pit underneath. The tent rods are aluminium-titanium alloy. Snow walls were not sufficient to protect the page 13 tent from blowing snow at Mt Erebus Saddle, instead a 2m high × 10m long wall out of heavy cargo was established to reduce the amount of wind stress and snow accumulation.

Fig. 9 A) empty drilling tent, B) drilling tent from outside with drill mast, C) Drill platform (1.2m deep below surface), D) processing floor (2.2m below surface) and drill handling platform (3.5m below surface), E) core processing space, F) core processing and storage place