The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has fined a company an employee was fatally injured while moving heavy machinery. Press release here. What happened Workers were moving a large […]
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
Condition of fire-fighting installation and equipment
What happened A member highlights two instances of fire-fighting equipment not being in an appropriate condition. Blocked sprinklers and nozzles It was observed that the nozzles of the fire main […]
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 […]
Lifting complex loads – offloading third party equipment
What happened? As it was being lifted off a vessel, a cherry picker (a movable hydraulic crane with a railed platform used to raise or lower personnel) tipped over, causing […]
LTI – ankle injury caused during lifting operations
What happened During slewing of the crane during a jacket lifting operation the jacket started rotating. The rigging crew used a steering line in an attempt to stop the jacket […]
Fault in high voltage equipment
What happened A serious fault was discovered in high voltage (-5600 V) equipment; the fault caused sparks to be observed across the high voltage terminals. Portable seismic survey “sparker” equipment […]
MAIB: fatality during transfer from a workboat to a barge
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has published Accident Investigation Report 6/2021 into the death of a crewman whilst transferring between the workboat Beinn Na Caillich and a barge […]
HSE: Catastrophic failure of marine loading arm
What happened The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a safety alert on the catastrophic failure of a marine loading arm. Marine loading arms (MLAs) are used to […]
MSF: Cut Hand Whilst Cleaning / Hand Safety
The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 21-10 relating to a crew member who suffered an unpleasant cut to the hand whilst engaged in routine cleaning. What happened […]
Incidents relating to hatches and doors
A member reports a number of incidents relating to hatches and doors, which can be summarised briefly for our instruction here. The first two incidents are findings from a tour […]
Catering crew unfamiliar with firefighting systems and emergency stops
What happened During a recent incident on a members’ vessel, the catering crew were found to be unfamiliar with the firefighting systems and electrical equipment emergency stops. The lack […]
Mains extension melted – not fully paid out
What happened A mains extension cable melted during use. This occurred during cutting on deck on a vessel in dry dock; sub-contractors did not fully pay out an extension cable […]
Dropped Object – door detached from TMS during dive
What happened During offshore installation activities a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and Tether Management System (TMS) recovered to deck was observed to have a TMS door missing. The ROV team […]
Inadvertently drinking hazardous substances
What happened Someone unintentionally drank a hazardous substance out of a drinking water bottle. The incident occurred when crew members were painting on deck. During the work, one member of […]
Crew member thrown to the quay by unplanned movement of small boat
Transport Malta’s Marine Safety Investigation Unit (MSIU) has produced a report into an accident on a tugboat in harbour, which can be found here. What happened What went wrong? Some […]
Only a centimetre – an emergency exit hatch blocked by mooring ropes
What happened On a vessel alongside in port, an emergency exit hatch was found to be blocked. A team making a daily inspection tour round the vessel found that they […]
Life raft dropped to the jetty
What happened A life raft was inadvertently dropped onto the jetty during replacement of the ratchet straps on the hydrostatic pressure release unit. Three crewmembers were replacing the securing straps […]
Hand injury from falling object during lifting operations
What happened A lifting saddle broke, causing a hose to swing and hit a crewman, causing an injury to his hand. The incident occurred at completion of cement pumping between […]
BSEE: Crewman fell to his death through faulty grating
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. […]
SIMOPS – Smoke from hot work task enters confined space
What happened On a vessel in dry dock, confined space entry was required for the cleaning of the vessel sewage tanks. Nearby, shipyard workers were removing a section of bulkhead […]
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