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Electrician injured in explosion

An electrician was badly injured while working on a switchboard. The circuit breaker was designed to be removed without the need to isolate the base unit (Figure 1); however, the electrician was unfamiliar with this arrangement and had loosened one of the live connections on the input to the base un…

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LTI: Fingers injured during fender lifting operation

A crew member suffered severe injuries to two fingers during fender lifting operations. The injuries occurred while hauling up the webbing slings with a (13mm (half-inch) polypropylene rope so that a Yokohama fender, weighing approx. 415 kg, could be lifted to deck. The crew member pulled the polyp…

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LTI: gangway collapsed

A person was badly injured when a gangway collapsed as he was using it. The incident occurred when the injured person requested permission to leave Vessel 2, which was moored outside of and alongside Vessel 1, which was alongside in a shipyard. The injured person was unaware that Vessel 1 was under…

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Lithium-ion battery fire destroys vessel bridge

A fire started on the bridge of an oil tanker whilst alongside. Fire teams from the vessel extinguished the fire in less than half an hour after it had begun. There were no injuries, but the damage caused to the vessel was estimated at US$3 million. There was extensive smoke and heat damage, and the…

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Operating Mobile Plant - Contact with Live Electricity

The boom arm of a 25-tonne excavator contacted a 12,700 V overhead powerline causing the powerline to fall to the ground adjacent to the excavator. The excavator was in the process of clearing an access track. The incident occurred at 3pm. Wet weather the night before had brought this work scope for…

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Incorrectly Supplied Air Horn – contained propane/butane propellant

While moving breathing apparatus rescue equipment in the habitat for the port slops tank, it was identified that the Air-Horns in use were not as per equipment normally used. Upon further investigation, it was noted that the cans contain a propane/butane mix. Two cans were removed from the habitat, …

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Worker cut hand on broken mirror

A crew person on a vessel sustained a deep cut on the left thumb while attempting to repair a broken mirror. The mirror had shattered because the closet (bathroom) door in his cabin had fallen off the hinges. The person had reported to the Chief Officer that the closet door in his cabin had become d…

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LTI - Finger crush whilst operating safety gate

A crew member got his finger trapped in a hinged fall protection bar on a crane pedestal platform, causing a serious injury. The crew member was climbing the main crane vertical ladder; when he reached the top of the ladder, he used his right hand to raise the hinged fall protection bar to gain acce…

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Two Hand Injuries

A member reports two hand injuries. Incident 1: As a Pilot climbed the vessel's access hatch to the under-deck passage, his backpack straps entangled with the hatch retaining bar. A sudden release of the hatch caused it to abruptly close, causing pain and swelling to the Pilot's right-hand knuckle…

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Failure of personal isolation procedures: crane damaged when it was used inappropriately

On a vessel in dry dock, a crane, which had been isolated for many days for work to be conducted by a third party, was used by crew unaware that the crane was out of use for maintenance. The crane was damaged as a result, leading to increased maintenance time and cost. A “personal” isolation of the…

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Line of fire near miss during lifting operations

A member of the deck crew member put themselves in the line of fire during landing of a structure on the back deck of a vessel. The installation aids (bumper bars) were insufficient to stabilise the load, resulting in the structure being landed narrowly missing the individual, and damaging an adjac…

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Maintaining Process Equipment - Loss of Containment

A maintenance worker was instructed to reduce bolt a flange join on a heat exchanger shell. This was in the work scope and documented in the work permit. The worker set up their work area and then commenced work on the wrong heat exchanger shell, which was live. An operator noticed that work was p…