Following the release of its monthly Safety Flashes, IMCA describes an incident where dock workers used damaged electrical equipment.
The case
Third-party crew working on a vessel being demobilised were observed using damaged electrical equipment. Third-party welders were preparing to weld the anchor sea-fastening onto the main deck aft.
Vessel crew noticed that the electric cable of the welding machine was connected to the electric cord extension without a plug, and the cable cover was damaged.
The job was immediately stopped. The vessel ETO repaired the damaged wiring and installed an appropriate plug – illustrated in the third photograph on the right below.
Lessons learned
- The third-party workers did not bring the proper tools for the job, nor did they carry out visual inspection of electrical equipment.
- This incident occurred on a vessel in a port in an area of recent strong growth and emerging markets.
- In addition to the electrical safety issues, there may be lessons to learn about control of sub-contractors and third-party crew particularly at very busy times such as port calls and mobilisations.
- The crew of the vessel are to be commended for noticing the matter and for exercising their STOP WORK AUTHORITY.
