What happened What went wrong? The company had: Failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment to identify the potential for exposure to the hazardous chemicals; Not implemented […]
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
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 […]
WSH: Two workers passed out and died in dredge ballast tank
The Workplace Safety and Health Council of Singapore (WSH) reported in Accident Notification of 24 May 2021, that two workers had passed out and died in a dredger’s ballast tank. […]
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 […]
Failure of dive chamber overhead door centre pin
What happened Minutes after a dive team transferred from the entry lock into the diving bell, there was a failure of the diving bell overhead door centre pin. A “bang” […]
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 […]
Overheated transformer activated fire alarm
What happened An under-rated transformer was installed, which causing overheating and thermal degradation of the transformer which subsequently tripped the breaker and activated the vessel’s fire alarm. The incident occurred […]
Safety Flashes – a look back at recent trends
This is a summary of the seventeen IMCA Safety Flashes published so far during 2021. All the published safety events or incidents are available on the IMCA website as individual […]
Lifting frame detached from fast rescue craft (FRC)
What happened IMCA has received information relating to an incident in which a lifting frame became detached from a fast rescue craft (FRC) during operations. The incident occurred when the […]
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 […]
MSF: Potential dropped object
The Marine Safety Forum has published Safety Alert 21-08 relating to a potential dropped object which was found during lifting operations between a vessel and a platform. What Happened A […]
Dropped object during lifting operations
What happened A part weighing 8.5kg fell over 15m from a pipelay tower to deck. The incident occurred when tensioner pads were being changed out on a Tiltable Lay System […]
Failure of EGS valve stem on dive helmet
What happened A member reported an incident in which the emergency gas system (EGS) valve handle on a commercial diving helmet broke off. At the time of the failure the […]
MSF: Engine damage after routine maintenance
The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 21-09 relating to engine damage following routine maintenance. What happened On an offshore platform supply it became necessary to stop one […]
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 […]
NTSB: Fire on laid up Dive Support Vessel
What happened The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the USA has published report MAB 21/11 into a fire on board a DSV which was laid up alongside. The fire […]
MSF: Tank corrosion
The Marine Safety Forum has published Safety Alert 21-07 relating to the discovery of a leak in a tank caused by corrosion. What happened During daily tank sounding routines in […]
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