High potential near miss: dropped object (flood lamp)

What happened?

Yard personnel found a flood lamp broken on the ground.  It was found to have fallen from a VLS tower that had been in long-term storage for a number of years.  There were no injuries, however the area where the lamp landed was regularly attended by workers.

What went wrong?  What were the causes?

• Mounting bolts and bracket, together with secondary securing wire, were fully corroded;
• There had been no maintenance, nor inspections of any kind during the storage period;
• There had been no evaluation carried out at the start of the storage period, to consider removal of this type of ancillary equipment, or to increase secondary securing.

What lessons were learned?

• Ensure storage philosophy and maintenance regime is discussed properly to ensure continued integrity of long-term stored assets;
• Ensure dropped object surveys include equipment in long-term storage;
• Consider removal of as many ancillary items as sensible, when initiating the long-term storage of equipment;
• Focus on material selection for secondary securing; ideally using seawater resistant stainless steel with double securing clips to withstand corrosion.

Members may wish to refer to:

• Potential engine room flooding: maintenance and equipment failure issues on a laid-up vessel [relating to how assets are handled during lay-up]
• Dropped object: Lay tower adjuster leg pin