Falling object – Failure of lifting appliance

An IMCA member has reported a lifting appliance failure that occurred in connection with the transport of oil barrels. Barrels filled with oil were being lifted by a vessel crane from the shore onto the vessel. During one of these lifts, one of the barrel clamps came loose from the barrel. The other barrel clamp also came loose, allowing the barrel to fall onto the deck of the vessel where it burst. There were no injuries.

Because of the oil spill on deck, the SOPEP team was mustered. The oil spill was contained, no oil entered the water, and the spill was cleaned up.

The company conducted an investigation into the accident, which concluded that the most likely cause was incorrect mounting of the barrel clamps in the past leading to deformation of the clamps, which led to the load being dropped.

The company took the following actions:

other vessels have been alerted to the incident, via distribution of an internal safety flash;
toolbox meetings have been held onboard the company’s other vessels to demonstrate the correct use of barrel clamps.

Safety Event

Published: 27 February 2006
Download: IMCA SF 02/06

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