The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement of the United States (BSEE) has released Safety Alert 482 entitled Risk Based Inspection Identifies Welding and Burning Hazards. What happened Following inspections […]
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
Injuries to the eyes and face
A member reports a number of incidents where crew have sustained injuries to the face. Eye and face injuries are always a serious matter. IMCA has relayed these incidents to […]
MAIB: Crew member injured by rotating crank handle – LTI
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch has published Safety Digest 1/2024, consisting of lessons from recent Marine Accident Reports. IMCA has reviewed the report and will pass on to members […]
A reminder on watertight doors
What happened Watertight doors that ought have been secured shut, were observed open during a safety walkaround. It’s worth reiterating the importance of watertight doors – the clue is in […]
UK HSE: worker injured by falling stack of batteries in Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers
What happened The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have issued a press release relating to a case where an employee was severely injured after batteries weighing at least 300kg […]
Pipeline End Manifold yoke dropped from 45° position
What happened During adjustment of the yoke securing arrangement for a PLEM (Pipe Line End Manifold), the cargo strap failed resulting in the yoke falling and landing in its horizontal […]
UK HSE: Crane boom collapse
What happened The UK HSE has fined an offshore drilling company after the catastrophic collapse of a crane boom. See here for the press release. The HSE reported: “Nobody was […]
Unauthorised entry into confined space
What happened Planned repair works were taking place on a barge. The work involved hot work (welding & grinding). During the works, the stand-by person, controlling several areas, observed sub-contract […]
Hot work whilst working at height in a confined space – job was stopped
What happened During a site visit to a vessel, it was observed that a third-party contractor’s welder was standing on the wooden platform (the actual height was over 1.80m) inside […]
High potential: navigation near offshore wind turbines
What happened During survey operations, a chartered vessel entered a wind turbine safety zone on two separate occasions whilst attempting to achieve the closest approach line. On the first occasion, […]
Failure of personal isolation procedures: crane damaged when it was used inappropriately
What happened? On a vessel in dry dock, a crane, which had been isolated for many days for work to be conducted by a third party, was used by crew […]
LTI: gangway collapsed
What happened A person was badly injured when a gangway collapsed as he was using it. The incident occurred when the injured person requested permission to leave Vessel 2, which […]
Fire-fighting equipment in poor condition
What happened? Several 50kg wheeled dry powder fire extinguishers on board a vessel were found to have low pressure and heavy signs of corrosion. This was discovered during an audit […]
Unprotected openings in floor grating – work stopped
What happened? Two workers removed grating panels at height on a horizontal lay system, in order to gain access to lift points for further removal of a lateral walkway section. […]
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 […]
Rope access technician slipped and dislocated shoulder
What happened A rope access technician sustained an injury to the right shoulder while accessing the vessel transom port-side platform, following buoyancy module pad retrieval from the pipe string. Upon […]
Serious hand injury during mooring operations
What happened A dock worker suffered a serious hand injury during mooring operations. The incident occurred as the vessel was prepared for departure from the berth. The mooring foreman signalled […]
Finger Injury while setting up pipe cutting operation
What happened? A crew member was setting up a pipe cutting machine in a vertical position to cut welding that was done on a jumper for repair, when they suffered […]
UK HSE – worker struck in the face by a crane hook
What happened The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has fined a manufacturer after an employee lost an eye when he was struck in the face by a crane hook. […]
LTI – Person fractured pelvis in a fall from a ladder
A crew person suffered a fractured pelvis falling 4-5 metres from a temporary access ladder onboard a cargo vessel. The ladder was installed at a previous equipment mobilisation following realisation […]
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