The Safety Corner
| Extreme temperatures that are experienced during seasonal highs/lows serve to raise the importance of crew welfare, not only in the face of hot or cold conditions, but also in the wider context of ensuring a just workplace and an outstanding safety culture. I read in a MAIB report on a mooring fatality ( published as part of a Safety Flash xx/xx) that a factor in the accident was that the vessel master was “motivated to execute the operation and finish loading. This desire to get the job done…may have contributed to him pressing ahead with neither a clear plan nor risk assessment.” Here’s an insufficiently strong workplace culture – and as part of the consequences, someone is dead. Unfortunately IMCA’s safety statistics for 2021 have shown an anomalously high number of fatalities. There were 16 fatalities recorded. Ten of these occurred when vessels capsized or were lost in bad weather. The Seacor Power was lost in the Gulf of Mexico and one of our members lost someone drowned onboard a barge which sank during Cyclone Tauktee at Bombay High. Another four persons died following a vessel fire, again at Bombay High. IMCA members work very hard to ensure that their crews remain safe, and seek constantly for the target of zero incidents. The HSSE Core Committee has had another open forum under the Chatham House Rule, whereby participants are free to use the information received, but not free to identify where that information came from. Freedom to share information is vital, and IMCA works hard to ensure that information received from members for use in Safety Flashes is dealt with appropriately and that it does remain anonymous. We pick up on a number of issues coming out from recent Safety Flash submissions. There’s never any surprise to this kind of analysis, but it is always worth noting that words like finger, hand and arm come out as most frequently occurring. Fall and burn come closely behind in the titles of safety flash submissions of the last few months. Here’s someone burnt his arm in the galley; here’s a diver with a crushed finger. Here’s someone feeling faint because cleaning chemicals have been mixed together inappropriately. There’s plenty of areas in which we can improve. As one of my favourite safety professionals within the membership is wont to note, “It’s not rocket science, Nick”. In March, I gave a presentation on line of fire injuries to the Energy Institute’s “Toolbox” webinar. IMCA was asked to speak again in June, on lifting incidents. Additionally, it was a pleasure for me to give an IMCA update at the Marine Safety Forum All Members meeting in Aberdeen in May. IMCA has also held a very successful and well-received DP Conference in Amsterdam, and we have started on a full series of regional seminars for the Autumn. At all these events, safety is and will continue to be an integral part of the IMCA message. |
Editorial
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