Near-miss: Dropped object narrowly misses worker
- Safety Flash
- Published on 30 November 2005
- Generated on 23 March 2026
- IMCA SF 11/05
- 1 minute read
During some pipe work on the deckhead of a production platform, a spanner weighing 1.4 kg was dropped from the work place and fell 6 metres, landing only one metre from another worker.
What were the causes?
The immediate causes of this near-miss were that:
- the workplace was not adequately secured against the risk of dropped objects
- there was an opening in the grating allowing the object to fall.
Underlying causes noted were that:
- the work had been improperly managed and organised
- there had been no procedures in place for this type of work.
Lessons learnt
The resulting investigation made the following recommendations:
- Use should be made of checklists for safe work at heights
- Checks should be made and, where necessary, deficient floor grating should be repaired
- Clear marking out of barriers in areas below working areas should be ensured
- Permit to work systems should be correctly adhered to.
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