BSEE: Crewman fell to his death through faulty grating
- Safety Flash
- Published on 16 April 2021
- Generated on 24 May 2026
- IMCA SF 11/21
- 2 minute read
The United States’ Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has published BSEE Panel Report 2021-001 into a fatal fall from a platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2019
What happened?
A night shift production operator died when he fell into the sea through a rusty grating on the platform. His body was never recovered.
Less than 24 hours prior to the incident, a single section of severely corroded and deteriorated grating, posing a walking and working surface hazard, was identified on the north side of the well bay by a supervisor, who said that the grating section felt “spongey” underfoot.
Upon examination, he found that bearing bars at one end of the grating section had deteriorated.
Pre-Incident photograph of hazardous grating section
Post-Incident photograph of hazardous grating section suspended in open hole
Post-incident photograph of person standing near the open hole
Post-incident photograph of hazardous grating section
What were the causes?
Investigation by BSEE found several probable and possible causes – including communication breakdown, poorly maintained walking surfaces, and inadequate barricade installation.
- There was a failure to maintain all walking and working surfaces on the facility in a safe condition.
- Supervisors did not fulfil their responsibilities within the relevant, established Safe Work Practices (SWPs) when they:
- failed to promptly correct or prevent personnel from accessing the hazardous area.
- failed to stop work and warn all personnel of the hazardous area.
- failed to promptly correct or prevent personnel from accessing the hazardous area.
- The operator and its contractors failed to follow the agreed upon terms and conditions within their respective Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) bridging arrangements.
Actions
Recommendations included:
- Ensure crew are informed about all identified hazards in a timely and meaningful way.
- When hazards are identified, fix them.
- Better understanding of and agreement between, operators and contractors in terms of safety management systems bridging arrangements.
The full report can be downloaded here.
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