Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority published a report about an incident where a crew member was found unconscious inside a dry tank during a job of freeing water due to a water ingress through the hull. The crewmember was later pronounced dead.
The incident
The accident occured in Gamvik, north in Norway. There were two crew members on board the barge who did a job of freeing water due to a water ingress through the hull. One of the employees went down in a dry tank on board in connection with the job without informing the other crewmembers. A search was launched and the crew member was found unconscious inside the dry tank, and later pronounced dead.
The tugboat operator began preparations to enter the void space, and he filled out a safe job analysis (SJA) on his phone. He also asked the machinery manager if they should locate the damage, but was told that no one should enter any void space as there was a great danger associated with operations in confined spaces.
The excavator operator and tugboat operator followed the freeing from the deck of the barge. At one point, the excavator operator left the barge. When he returned shortly afterwards, the tugboat operator was not to be seen. He therefore started searching and went down into the cofferdam and pointed a flashlight into the void space. There he discovered the tugboat operator lying lifeless 10 meters inside the void space.
Both the excavator operator and then the responsible repairman tried to get into the tank to help the tugboat operator, but both got major breathing problems and had to get out. Only fortunate circumstances meant that the accident did not reach an even greater extent.
The tugboat operator was later the same day pronounced dead by a doctor, after repeated attempts at resuscitation. The autopsy report showed that he died of suffocation due to lack of oxygen.
Lessons learned
Following the accident, the company has implemented several measures. Part of these measures was the fulfillment of orders from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority.
Among other things, the procedure for work associated with confined spaces has been clarified, where the procedure now specifies that the work operation must be clarified and approved by the machinery manager and facility management before commencing work.
