What happened? On a vessel safety walk-round, an unsafe condition was found whereby alarm push buttons for acknowledgement/mute were kept pressed using toothpicks and scotch tape. While these were not […]
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
Slip on wet surface (Marine Safety Forum)
The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 19-02, in which as crew member on bridge duty slipped on a wet area of the deck, landing on his back. […]
Line of fire/pinch point – fractured fingers
What happened? A crewman suffered a pinch point injury resulting in two fractured fingers and a fingertip amputation. The incident occurred when a piece of equipment weighing 86kg was being […]
Fire: smoke coming from an expired line throwing cartridge kept for disposal
What happened? A fire alarm went off; the location of the fire was confirmed, and a team went for investigation. Heavy smoke was observed coming from a spare cabin. The […]
Oil spill during bunkering
What happened? During bunkering operations alongside, there was a spillage of around 3 litres of fuel when the hose coupling was loosened during fault-finding. The incident occurred when a vessel […]
Personal injury following PPE violation and slip and fall on deck
What happened? A vessel Master was injured when he went to the main deck to perform routine checks without safety footwear or a safety helmet. While walking on the wet […]
Near miss: crewman struck on head by crane hook (Marine Safety Forum)
The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) has published Safety Alert 18-26, in which an AB was struck on the head by a crane hook during routine deck cargo transfer operations. A […]
Near miss: potential fall through CTV hatch
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 […]
High potential near miss: passenger on a CTV narrowly avoided being crushed between vessels
What happened? A passenger on a crew transfer vessel (CTV) climbed over the bulwark during a vessel-to-vessel manoeuvre, but narrowly avoided being crushed. Whilst conducting routine crew transfer duties, a […]
BSEE: worker injured in fall from height into water
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has published Safety Alert 343 in which a worker fell 24m into the water. What Happened? The worker was replacing a control […]
LTI: finger injury during work with rotating machinery
What happened? An electrician tried to modify a cable shoe using a pillar drill in the engine room workshop. During initial use of the drilling machine, the electrician secured the […]
Person felt unwell while working in confined space
What happened? A worker felt dizzy and weak while cleaning a mud tank. The tank watchman noticed this and initiated the emergency rescue procedures to recover the person from confined […]
Unsafe backloading of equipment
What happened? Project related equipment was returned to a yard in a half-height container. The equipment came from a project-chartered vessel which had been demobilised at a nearby port. As […]
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 […]
Umbilical termination failure and loss of ROV
What happened? An ROV system had just completed a test dive to 3000m and was being returned to deck. Upon lifting the system out of the water, the umbilical became […]
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 […]
BSEE: Failure of Crane Hydraulic Boom Cylinders
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has published Safety Alert No. 342, regarding two crane failure accidents, identical in incident. Both accidents occurred during operation on a […]
Crisis Management: Rail Industry High Potential Near Miss
“Thirty centimetres of safety” The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has published its report into the detrainment of passengers onto electrically live track near Peckham Rye station on 7 […]
“Don’t forget about gangways” – USCG: Pilot Dies in Gangway Accident
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has published Safety Alert 14-18 regarding a fatal gangway accident. Whilst boarding, the gangway separated from the vessel and two individuals fell into the […]
Glow sticks breaking open – chemical splash risk
What happened? While activating a ‘glow stick’ the casing snapped releasing the glow dye. Our member noted that a number of sticks from the same batch broke open, releasing the […]
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