Two near miss incidents with a risk of scalding

What happened: A heavy rain of scalding water from the funnel fell down on the boat deck when the engine department was blowing the boilers. The possible consequences would have been major, had crew been on the boat deck below the chimney at the time. The engine room crew were unaware that blowing of the boilers could cause a drop down of scalding water from the chimney.

Lesson learnt: This matter of ‘blowing of the boilers’ had been discussed before and the engine room crew on board had already acknowledged the hazard, but the learning had not been implemented into daily work and routines. Constant reminders were required as time goes by, basic safety issues could easily be forgotten.

What happened: Crew were carrying out maintenance on the vessel’s engine, involving fitting protective shields around two cylinders to prevent the escape of pressurised hot gas. Work on the shield for the second cylinder proved more complex than expected. When fitting the second shield the cooling water pipe was dislodged and the hot water poured out and almost scalded a crew member.

Cause: An engineer removed the bolts to a cooling water pipe to make more space available. While moving the shield the engineer dislodged the cooling pipe.

Learning: Management of change: revaluate the risks presented by a job as it becomes more complex. Don’t rush hazardous work. Isolate engine-room systems to increase safety. Ensure all crew involved in maintenance are aware of how the task should be completed.