What happened? During the tow of a structure to location, a fire occurred in the engine room of the tow tug. This led to a blackout resulting in a collision […]
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
Agitator started moving during mud tank cleaning – leading to injury
What happened? An agitator in a mud tank started up when an employee of a third-party contractor working in the tank was in the way. He was hit by the […]
Potential for diver injury operating a hand-held torque wrench
What happened? A diver was involved in a near miss that could have resulted in serious injury when he was asked to function an ROV valve override on a subsea […]
UK HSE: fatal injury following catastrophic failure of pressure test equipment
What happened? A 64-year-old worker was fatally wounded by shrapnel ejected from testing equipment. He was leak testing eight 1500 litre cylinders, by applying compressed air inside to create pressure. […]
Two electrical incidents – UK HSE
Here are two recent prosecutions brought by the UK Health and Safety Executive, both relating to inappropriate working arrangements with live power. Incident 1 Two self-employed workers received serious burns […]
Short circuit on 440v AC bus bars – arc flash
What happened? A crewman was doing electrical work on a 440v power distribution panel (PDP), when a loose earth bonding cable made contact with a live 440v bus bar causing […]
Electric shock resulting in burn
What happened? An ROV technician received an electric shock to his left arm beneath the elbow, resulting in a burn. ROV personnel were working in the technical workshop completing a […]
Exploding television recovered from sea
What happened? One morning the crew of a workboat noticed an old television set floating in the sea near their work area. They decided to take it on-board in order […]
Use of surge protected devices on-board vessels
What happened? A surge protected extension lead failed resulting in it overheating and burning. Surveyors heard an audible ‘snap’ and then observed that three of their monitors had lost power. […]
Fire hazard posed by personal electronic devices
What happened? A fire incident occurred in a seafarer’s cabin due to a faulty mobile phone charger. The charger was left plugged in while unattended and an electrical short circuit […]
Lithium batteries: Fire following the failure of a helicopter start power unit
What happened? The vessel fire alarm panel indicated an activated smoke detector in the Heli admin office. Upon investigation, crew found the Heli admin office to be filled with smoke; […]
Battery fire with subsequent gas explosion: Warning about lithium-ion power following ferry fire
What happened The Norwegian Maritime Authority or Sjofartsdirektoratet has published an alert concerning a small fire that erupted in the battery room onboard the MF Ytterøyningen passenger ferry. Firefighting started […]
UK HSE prosecution following 2011 fatal explosion in oil refinery
What happened? The UK HSE has prosecuted two companies after an explosion killed four workers and seriously injured another at an oil refinery in Pembrokeshire in 2011. Five workers were […]
For want of a watchman the ship was lost
What happened? The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has published Marine Safety Alert 07-19 entitled ‘For want of a watchman the ship was lost’. It tells the story of a […]
BBC news: worker loses hand after he was injured with faulty hydraulic cutting gear
What happened? A firefighter whose hand was amputated after he was injured by faulty cutting gear has received £1.5m in damages. He was working with hydraulic cutting equipment on a […]
LTI during mooring operations
What happened? During mooring operations in the forward mooring deck of a large vessel, crew were in the process of sending out lines to line handlers ashore. When sending out […]
Near miss: diver’s umbilical trapped
What happened? During near-shore diving operations, a divers’ umbilical became trapped against a seawater intake. The dive team (2 x divers, 2 x tenders and dive supervisor) had completed a […]
Fire main dust cap blown away by pressure from the line
What happened? A fire main dust cap was blown off by pressure from the line and hit the wall 10m away. The incident occurred when a fire team were checking […]
Don’t put your finger in the wrong place: failure to isolate equipment causes serious finger injury
What happened? While carrying out work to fix the hydraulic arm of an ROV manipulator, the person involved was trying to adjust the position of the piston to align holes […]
Two battery issues – step change
What happened? UK Step Change has published two recent safety ‘moments’ relating to battery safety in two different battery chemistries – the first in a lead/acid battery, the second, in […]
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