What happened? A passenger on a crew transfer vessel (CTV) came very close to falling down an open hatch. The incident occurred after a vessel crew change had been abandoned […]
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
Technical Adviser - HSSE and Offshore Survey
Contact
Safety Events
Galley safety – rice cooker smouldering
What happened? A rice cooker not being used was either left on or accidentally turned on by someone walking past and activating the controls. No rice or liquid was in […]
Fires caused by electronic device chargers
What happened? The United States Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has published Safety Alert 337 on fires relating to the charging of personal electronic devices. IMCA has dealt […]
LTI: Severe burn from short circuited Li-Ion battery
What happened? A crew member suffered severe burns when a Lithium-Ion battery on his person exploded and caught fire. The crew member was about to do the last task […]
Pipelay technician sustained cut to wrist whilst handling testing equipment
What happened? During pipelay operations, two non-destructive testing (NDT) technicians were handling a ‘scanner belt’, which is used to connect the automated ultrasonic testing (AUT) scanner to the pipe for […]
Release of stored energy from coiled superloops
What happened? A release of stored energy from a coiled superloop resulted in an injury to the person uncoiling the superloop. The member reporting this notes that this is the […]
Electrician received electric shock from a bare cable
What happened? An electrician received an electric shock whilst running a new cable through an existing cable tray. While retrieving the cable, his hand touched the bare end of live […]
Electric Arc Incident
What happened? During a vessel mobilisation a control cabin for an electric ROV was being installed and commissioned. The cabin’s internal main electrical power cable arced, tripping the vessel’s power […]
Life raft self-activates and falls to the quayside
What happened? A life raft self-activated and fell from its cradle from the vessel deck, 8m down onto the barriered quayside bollard area. The weather temperature at the time was […]
Unplanned deployment of free fall lifeboat
What happened? On a vessel alongside there was an unplanned deployment of a free fall lifeboat (FFB), which no-one was aware of. There were no witnesses to the inadvertent launch, […]
Serious injury caused by energy isolation failure
What happened? A yard worker was cleaning debris from underneath a hydraulic pipe. Whilst performing this task, the worker placed his forearm on a hydraulically operated pipe stand. This put […]
Near miss: unplanned release of 2″ blasting hose outlet from air receiver coupling clamp
What happened? During blasting and painting operations conducted at an onshore worksite, a near miss incident occurred when a 2″ blasting hose outlet released from the coupling clamp connected to […]
Auto-ignition of laundry items
What happened? Cloths used for general galley cleaning were removed from a tumble dryer, immediately folded and piled in a steel bucket. Three hours later they were stowed in a […]
Fire in the accommodation: electronic items in cabins
What happened? An incident occurred on board a vessel which almost escalated into a serious accommodation fire. A crew member finished his work for the day and returned to his […]
LTI: diver injured during water jetting operations
What happened? A saturation diver suffered a lost time injury (LTI) to his left arm during subsea high-pressure water jetting operations. The incident occurred when the water jet gun failed, […]
Accidental activation of expired pyrotechnics (hand flare)
What happened? During a vessel dry dock, smoke was observed coming from a forepeak store, which was also accessible from the mess room. Expired hand flare pyrotechnics, boxed and packed […]
Vessel engine block blown open in and around cylinder
What happened? A severe engine failure occurred during a major vessel overhaul. The connection rod on cylinder #12 parted from the connecting rod cap and punched a hole in the […]
Three fires
Incident 1: Property damage A vessel was carrying two (working and loaded) deep freezers as deck cargo, destined for delivery to a platform. They were stored inside two metal baskets. […]
Stored energy: injury caused by failure of expansion joint in fire-fighting equipment
What happened? During a trial of fire-fighting equipment, a hose expansion joint or bellows failed. The release of pressurized water hit a crewman who was standing nearby, slamming him backward […]
Recent prosecutions by the UK HSE
The UK Health & Safety Executive (UK HSE) publishes regular press releases relating to safety incidents. These can be found on the HSE website. IMCA monitors these publications and passes […]
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