IMCA Newsroom

Press Release 11/05

LATEST SAFETY STATISTICS FROM IMCA

IMCA, the International Marine Contractors Association, has just published its analysis of members' safety performance in 2004. A total of 36 contractors participated in the annual exercise - the highest number of contributors to date.

The analysis shows that the offshore lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) fell again to 1.65 LTIs per million hours worked in 2004 compared with 4.25 in 2000, continuing the trend since IMCA first split the offshore and onshore analysis five years ago. The fatal accident rate also fell, to 2.75 fatalities per hundred million hours worked - down from just over 10 in 2000 and 2001.

"We are delighted to see these downward trends amongst those working offshore," says IMCA's Technical Director, Jane Bugler. "IMCA is firmly dedicated to aiming for zero injuries. We are not so happy though to have seen the overall LTIFR rise slightly this year (to 1.13 from 0.99 last year) although overall working hours have fallen sharply, largely due to a fall in the reported onshore working hours.

"While the overall figure was 4.96 in 1997, this is the first recorded increase in overall LTIFR and provides a reminder that, despite the remarkable improvements in offshore safety over recent years, there is still much to be done to hit the zero-injury goal. Our Safety, Environment & Legislation (SEL) Committee's work programme continues to expand, with a variety of media used to get the safety message across, from traditional guidance to safety cards, DVDs, seminars and online discussion forums. Members' feedback on their own successful safety initiatives is, of course, always welcome."

For the second year, the IMCA safety statistics analysis includes the leading safety performance indicators set out by IMCA in early 2003. With two years' experience in using and reporting the various measures, members are now being asked for their feedback on them in advance of a workgroup review, due to begin shortly.

Notes to Editors (common)

• IMCA is an international association with over 450 members in more than 50 countries, representing offshore, marine and underwater engineering companies. IMCA has four technical divisions, covering marine/specialist vessel operations, offshore diving, hydrographic survey and remote systems and ROVs, plus geographic sections for the Americas Deepwater, Asia-Pacific, Europe & Africa and Middle East & India regions, as well as a core focus on safety, the environment, competence and training. IMCA seeks to promote its members' common interests, to resolve industry-wide issues and to provide an authoritative voice for its members.
• IMCA publishes some 200 guidance notes and technical reports. These have been developed over the years and are widely distributed. They are a definition of what IMCA stands for, including widely recognised diving and ROV codes of practice, DP documentation, marine good practice guidance, the Common Marine Inspection Document, safety recommendation, outline training syllabi and the IMCA competence scheme guidance. In addition to the range of printed guidance documents, IMCA also produces safety promotional materials, circulates information notes and safety flashes.
• Judith Patten is here to help you if you want any additional information on IMCA; would like to discuss a feature article; want to organise interviews with key members of the IMCA team, etc.