What happened? A high potential near miss occurred when a dummy hot stab was ejected at 20,000psi. Personnel were out of the direct line of fire but within 1-2 meters […]
Safety Flashes
IMCA safety flashes disseminate important information on incidents and potential hazards and the lessons learnt from them that can help prevent incidents occurring elsewhere in the industry.
Individual safety events are available individually online, tagged and searchable, while the traditional PDF collections are also available for download.
Submit a Report
All members are encouraged to contribute relevant safety-related information – please visit our Safety Flash Reporting page for details on the submission process.
IMCA Contact
Nicholas Hough
Consultant - Safety and Security
Contact
Safety Events
Live sub-surface power cable inadvertently cut
What happened A high potential near miss occurred during onshore preparations for a pipeline installation when an excavator cut into an energised power cable. Trenching activities for the onshore pipeline […]
Failure to plan properly: electrician sustains serious burns (UK HSE)
Following a UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, a retail company was fined £1,000,000 after an electrician suffered serious burns to 15 per cent of his body when he […]
BSEE: Unsecured Pressurized Hoses Result in Hand Injuries
What happened The United States Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement BSEE) has published Safety Alert No. 442 relating to hand injuries caused by handling unsecured pressurised hoses during coil […]
High potential incident – Foot trapped under ram cylinder
What happened A person almost had his foot crushed by a ram cylinder on a pipeline coating machine. The incident occurred at a spoolbase, during the application of pipe joint […]
Permit to Work and Isolation procedure not followed
What happened? An electrician installed fuses on a 930V DC electrical system while the system was live. Under deck carousels were mechanically and electrically isolated as a precaution for maintenance […]
UK HSE: Lubrication of circuit breakers – safety notice
The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a Safety Notice regarding the lubrication of circuit breakers in both HV and LV equipment. The key issues covered are the […]
Portable electrical equipment – serious fire in the accommodation
What happened? A member reports a serious fire in the accommodation on a vessel at anchor. There was no injury nor loss of life, but there was significant and costly […]
Electrician suffered flash burn to hand
What happened A third-party electrician on a vessel in dry dock got burnt whilst verifying the integrity of insulation on a 690 Volt bus bar. A voltaic arc was created […]
UK HSE: Poorly maintained electrical installation caused fatality
The UK Health and Safety Executive prosecuted a warehouse management solutions company after an employee was fatally electrocuted while servicing electrical equipment. What went wrong? Investigation found that: Control measures […]
Damaged Electrical Cable
What happened? During a washdown of a vessel’s cargo hold a crew member noticed arcing from around two electrical cables near the cargo hold light. Upon closer investigation he noticed […]
Shipyard worker receives electrical shock
What happened A shipyard worker received a serious electrical shock onboard a vessel in dry dock. The incident occurred when a shipyard welding team were setting up equipment outside on […]
Electric shock due to water in electrical equipment
What happened There was an uncontrolled spraying of fresh water from a sounding pipe in the galley, resulting in electrical equipment getting wet. As a result someone got an electric […]
LTI: Stored energy – rigger injured leg working on quayside
A rigger sustained a significant injury to his lower left leg while working on the quayside during lifting operations. The incident occurred during the hours of darkness, when a third-party […]
Fire in a safety locker
What happened? A small fire occurred in the safety locker of the changing room. The safety locker was used to store various safety items including among others: An Aldis-lamp spare […]
Serious injury incurred while removing wire rope sling from a crane hook
A rigger sustained a fractured shoulder whilst removing a large diameter wire rope sling soft eye from the crane hook. During vessel mobilisation of deck equipment, crew were lifting a […]
High potential near miss: Nitrogen hose failure during transfer of gas
What happened? As nitrogen gas was being transferred from the pipelay tower accumulators to storage bottles located within the pipelay HPU room, the pipelay supervisor noticed a sudden drop in […]
Lifting basket with unsecured cargo which fell out
What happened? A cargo basket containing equipment was to be lifted from the vessel deck to an offshore installation. The crane on the offshore installation was unable to lift the […]
MSF: water based mud spill on deck
What happened? The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 20-05 relating to a spill of water-based mud. During routine mud transfer operations at an offshore installation the rig […]
Serious injury caused by high-pressure washer
What happened? A work team supervisor sustained a laceration to his upper right thigh caused by a high-pressure water jet. The injury required several stitches and the injured party was […]
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