The Marine Safety Forum (MSF) reported a near miss incident in which a small protective cover was lost from the deck of a vessel and was later found in the pocket of a five-foot container which had been offloaded ashore. This could have been a serious high potential dropped object risk to the crew, shore-side workers and to the general public.
Probable Cause
The vessel crew carried out an investigation with the assistance of the responsible technical superintendent and discovered that the rubber which keeps these deck covers in place were in poor condition which had enabled them to become loose and be washed out.
Some additional observations were made and listed as contributing to this incident:
- Inadequate inspection
- Inadequate maintenance
- Adverse weather and sea condition
Actions taken
A temporary deck cover was made to remove the tripping hazards created by the missing cover. New covers were ordered and delivered onboard.
Recommendations
- Check the condition of the covers on a regular basis;
- The inspection of the covers should be part of the onboard planned maintenance system;
- After any heavy weather, deck crew should visually check the deck and if a cover is missing, try to locate the cover before discharging any cargo. This is to help prevent the possibility of dropped objects.