IN 1056 – Dropped object prevention - www.dropsonline.org

The risk of harm to personnel and damage to equipment from dropped objects exists in virtually all operations and activities undertaken by IMCA members, whether offshore or onshore, in transit or in port, subsea or topside.  Dropped objects could originate from a wide range of structures and equipment used in the activities undertaken by IMCA members, including vessels, barges, mobile offshore drilling units, quays, ports and bases, and all subsea equipment.

The purpose of this information note is to provide members with information on DROPS, an industry-wide scheme aimed at preventing dropped objects.  Extensive guidance on dropped object prevention is produced by the DROPS industry-wide workgroup and is available at the DROPS website.  Members are encouraged to make use of the information available on the website in developing their own dropped object prevention schemes to suit their specific operations.

DROPS:  The dropped object prevention scheme global resource centre – www.dropsonline.org

The site contains a wide variety of useful resources including the following:

• statistics on dropped object incidents
• guidance and good practice documents on such topics as the use of red and yellow zones, use of tools at height, dropped object inspections and surveys
• downloadable posters
• a handy chart which can be used to assess the possible consequences to a person if hit by an object of a given mass falling from a given height
• a range of presentations including recent safety alerts, lessons learnt and new products
• recent dropped object alerts
• training material
• other resources including newsletters and reference documents.

Members may also wish to refer to:

IMCA HSS019 – Guidelines for lifting operations

Additionally, IMCA has developed material promoting safety in:

• Avoiding dropped objects
• Working at height