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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.

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All members are encouraged to contribute relevant safety-related information – please visit our Safety Flash Reporting page for details on the submission process.

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Compressed air rather than oxygen supplied to divers

What happened Several divers were affected and two divers became ill when compressed air rather than oxygen was supplied to them by mistake on their BIBS (Built in Breathing System). […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 27/23

Failure of proportional valve in saturation chamber control

What happened There was a failure during saturation diving operations. There were no injuries to personnel nor damage to equipment, but time was lost. The automatic control system for the […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 27/23


Case study: confined space fatalities due to Hydrogen Sulphide

This is a brief summary of a recent case report on confined space fatalities on board an oil rig during work involving gas sampling/monitoring inside the “spud cans” of the […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 27/23

High potential near miss: Crane part fell to deck

What happened During a vessel transit during which the crane was unused in its boom rest, a crew member observed a piece of metal debris lying under the crane boom […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 26/23


Failure of AHC cylinder causing oil leak to deck

What happened A hydraulic cylinder on an Automatic Heave Compensated crane failed. The incident occurred when an offshore vessel was engaged in the installation of a jumper line in 690m […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 26/23

Vehicle incident – driver tiredness

What happened On completion of work on a project site, a company team were driving back to their home base. Approximately 1hr 45mins into the journey the driver started to […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 26/23


Near miss: dropped object during lifeboat testing

What happened? During launch testing of a lifeboat, a turnbuckle and shackle weighing 7kg fell 23m from the davit onto the boat, landing within a metre of a worker hooking […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 25/23


Fire extinguisher fails during pressure testing  

What happened? A member reports a recent incident involving the failure of a 5kg CO2 fire extinguisher during hydrostatic pressure testing. The extinguisher, rated to 200bar, was being tested to […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 25/23


Fire in ROV workshop

What happened? A crew member noticed smoke coming from the ROV workshop and reported a fire. What went right? What went wrong? Lessons learned Members may wish to refer to:

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 25/23

Job stopped safely: safe working load limits exceeded

What happened Work was stopped during the practical evaluation portion of rigger training in an onshore industry. It was discovered that the application of eye-nuts were not consistent with their […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 24/23


Uncertified bosun’s chairs

What happened A member conducting management visits to vessels discovered three separate cases where “Bosun’s Chairs” or similar support structures for working at height activities related to painting and repair […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 24/23

Fire in the laundry room

What happened? A smoke detector was activated. A deck officer checked the origin of the alarm which was coming from an area close to the laundry room. A general fire […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 24/23

BSEE: Heat-related Illnesses occurring offshore

What happened The United States Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has published Safety Alert 467 relating to heat related illnesses occurring offshore. BSSE notes that there have been […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 24/23

Unsafe flooring led to man overboard fatality 

A fatality occurred in January 2023, on an offshore worksite, whereby a worker fell overboard because of a dislodged section of polymer grating, commonly used in the offshore industry. The […]

| Included in IMCA Safety Flash 23/23

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