IMCA Safety Flash SF-20-23
IMCA has published Safety Flash 20-23 here
Caught between: unplanned movement of equipment leads to severe injuries
What happened?
A mechanic was caught in the door of a freight container by a tipped-over hose saddle weighing 3 tonnes. The incident occurred when a team was performing maintenance works to a hydraulic spread on deck. A mechanic, who was not involved with these works, passed by the hose saddle, and entered a nearby container. At that moment the hydraulic hoses moved, causing the hydraulic saddle to tip over towards the container door, trapping the mechanic in between the container door and the frame. He sustained severe injuries for which he underwent surgery, and will be off work for more than 6 months.
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LTI – Person fractured pelvis in a fall from a ladder
What happened?
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 that the permanent access / egress hatches to the cargo hold had been blocked. The ladder was secured to a small access platform off the ‘tween deck by means of ratchet straps. The platform edge was 5 metres in height with no handrails or fall prevention and the ladder could only be accessed by stepping over the ratchet straps at the exposed edge.
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Unplanned rotation of drilling machinery
What happened
A large diameter subsea drill had completed drilling operations and was returned to the vessel’s deck for planned maintenance. Part of the maintenance programme required the drill support system to be energized. As the system was energized, the drill bit unexpectedly started rotating for around 40 seconds. The retention fastenings, used to secure the drill during maintenance, parted, tangling in the rotating drill-bit. Nobody was in the vicinity at the time and there were no injuries.
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CHIRP: Crew vigilance prevents mooring incident
What happened
CHIRP – the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme – has shared an event in which the careful vigilance of vessel crew prevented a mooring incident. A long, low-amplitude swell was causing a steady yawing and rolling motion of up to around 1.2m from the wharf on a 93,000-tonne deadweight bulk carrier alongside. During this time, a forward spring line running over the edge of the shipside roller fairlead began interacting with another mooring line causing significant abrasion damage.
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MSF – two recent dropped object incidents
What happened
The Marine Safety Forum has published safety alerts on two recent dropped object incidents, both of which have learning value for IMCA members.
Incident 1: What happened
A breakaway coupling became a dropped object. It fell unnoticed to deck on a semi-submersible accommodation vessel. Later investigation identified where the breakaway coupling had fallen from. Another coupling was found with early signs of failure, with one of the breakaway studs found loose and able to be moved around freely.