What happened? During a recent decommissioning operation, shears were used to cut a pipeline. The shear tool was rigged to the crane in a vertical fashion. The shear tool was […]
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
A structural failure leads to uncontrolled motion of a ‘Billy Pugh’ basket and injuries to crew
What happened The United States Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has issued a bulletin about an incident in which a ‘Billy Pugh’ basket was subject to uncontrolled motion […]
Pin from crane block sheave guard fell 25m
What happened A member of UK Step Change in Safety reports an incident in which a main block sheave guard came loose from the main crane block and fell approximately […]
High potential dropped object near miss: Object fell from cargo
What happened The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) reports an incident in which a piece of grating weighing 17kg fell from a load. It fell 6-7m to deck. Crew were on […]
Worker crushed by dropped/falling object
What happened? A load from the top of a double-decked trailer fell onto a worker, causing life-changing injuries. His employer was prosecuted by the UK HSE and fined. See press […]
High potential near miss: slip on tag line during crane operations
What happened? The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) reports an incident in which a crewman slipped and fell during lifting operations. The incident occurred when a vessel was preparing for cargo […]
Uncontrolled movement of crane block and pennant during lifting operations at sea
What happened? During bunkering operations between two vessels at sea, there was an uncontrolled movement of a crane block, resulting in a pennant striking a supply vessel, placing personnel in […]
Bunkering hose dropped to deck – incorrect lifting procedure
What happened? A bunkering hose was dropped to deck from 11m in the air. A vessel had just completed cargo operations with a supply vessel. The operation had included the […]
High potential near miss: dropped object – buffer plate fell from crane boom
What happened? During lifting operations with the main crane, a buffer plate fell from the crane boom. It fell approximately 10m, weighing 70 kg and was 90cm x 40cm. It […]
Near miss: Single wire strand protruded from original lay
What happened During deployment of the bell and clump weight from a vessel for subsea inspection of a riser line, it was observed that a single wire strand protruded from […]
Near miss: Failure of subsea lifting equipment
What happened A dummy spool connected to two lift bags made a rapid and uncontrolled ascent to the surface. The incident occurred during diving operations on a construction barge. There […]
Near-miss: Snagged lifting bridle
What happened The MSF has published Safety Alert 17-03 in which lifting rigging got snagged on an open top mini basket type unit. The incident occurred on a platform supply […]
Collared eyebolts as lifting equipment
What happened? NOPSEMA has published Alert 64 relating to the failure of collared eyebolts when used for lifting. A piece of equipment was being lifted during maintenance and repair, when […]
Near-miss: Fault spotted in subsea lifting wire
What happened? During diving operations at 10 msw, it was noticed that there was a slight gap in the lay of the diver launch and recovery (LARS) clump weight wire. […]
Equipment failure leading to crane collapse
What happened? A vessel was tied up in port alongside another vessel (double banked). An attempt was made to lift a 20′ freight container cabin from a truck, onto the […]
High potential near-miss: Incorrectly secured overhead equipment
What happened? During operations, it was observed that the connecting shackle pins on two separate items of overhead equipment (fall arrest inertia reels) were loose and could have become detached. […]
Near-miss: Multiple potential dropped objects discovered during loading of spooling unit
What happened? A vessel loaded a spooling unit and other cargo onto a platform. After lifting operations were completed, the platform reported that multiple potential dropped objects (total 19 items) […]
Dropped object: Lay tower adjuster leg pin
What Happened The securing pin from a Tiltable Lay System (TLS) adjuster leg, weighing 600 kg, fell 16m to deck. The incident occurred when the keeper plate bolts slackened off. […]
LTI as a result of load dropped from lifting magnet
What happened? A load dropped from a permanent lifting magnet hit a person’s hand resulting in an LTI. Polished metal elements had to be lifted a few centimetres with a […]
Dropped object injury: Equipment shifted when it was incorrectly unsecured
What happened? On a cable laying vessel, a cable quadrant had been rigged on the bulwarks, seated in a pedestal mounting and secured via lashings on the outboard side. Normal […]
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