IMCA has reported an incident in which crew, during a routine walk around the vessel, noticed in the engine room that a bilge cover had been left open.
There was no barrier or signage in place. On investigation the bilge cover had been opened to permit brine pump maintenance work. This work had been interrupted and the employees had left the job, putting in place no safety precautions, but with the intent of returning later.
There had recently been two similar near misses in which covers have been left open in the engine rooms on company vessels.
Actions Taken
- Stopped the job: the opened engine room bilge covers were closed and returned to a safe condition;
- A safety stand down was conducted with focus on maintaining and following the correct control of work procedures.
Lessons Learnt:
- Maintenance processes in the engine room should be planned, all risks assessed with further implementation of control measures where needed;
- Any openings or potential trip hazards should be controlled to ensure any risk is as low as reasonably practical;
- There should be effective supervision at all times;
- Vessel crews “not learning the lessons” – further effort required to address this.
Source & Image credit: IMCA Safety Flash
