Just found out about this and very sorry for your loss. i recieved the same injury three years ago.
I sent this email to the company Paul worked for. I hope this will help prevent further injuries.
may the lord bless. Doug Paterson
Sirs my father recently referred me to an article in Professional Mariner http://www.professionalmariner.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=420C4D38DC9C4E3A903315CDDC65AD72&nm=Archives&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=120F0823DE5B466495F73A5A9DD0808F in which a man was hurt and later died of injuries from being hit in the jaw by a spud pin. I received the same type of injury three years ago while working in the American San Juan Islands. The only difference is we were picking the spuds getting ready for sea and the winch operator missed his timing between the friction and the brake and our spud is much larger. The impact shattered my jaw breaking several teeth and permanently severing the nerves in that area. fortunately I did not fall overboard. I write this only because I see in the article that your fix was to raise the spud pocket height to four feet. Our spud pocket is just over four feet high and it still happened. Just a heads up there is nothing like staying clear.
I sent this email to the company Paul worked for. I hope this will help prevent further injuries.
may the lord bless. Doug Paterson
Sirs my father recently referred me to an article in Professional Mariner http://www.professionalmariner.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=420C4D38DC9C4E3A903315CDDC65AD72&nm=Archives&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=120F0823DE5B466495F73A5A9DD0808F in which a man was hurt and later died of injuries from being hit in the jaw by a spud pin. I received the same type of injury three years ago while working in the American San Juan Islands. The only difference is we were picking the spuds getting ready for sea and the winch operator missed his timing between the friction and the brake and our spud is much larger. The impact shattered my jaw breaking several teeth and permanently severing the nerves in that area. fortunately I did not fall overboard. I write this only because I see in the article that your fix was to raise the spud pocket height to four feet. Our spud pocket is just over four feet high and it still happened. Just a heads up there is nothing like staying clear.
Sincerely Capt. Doug Paterson