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What happened?
Three workers were walking on a platform spider deck walkway.
Two of the workers were carrying a ladder.
A floor grating panel broke under the weight of one of the workers.
The worker managed to hold onto the ladder that they were carrying – which stopped them from falling into the sea.
The worker was rescued by the other two workers.
The injured worker received only minor bruises to their left arm.
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Why did it happen?
The panel was badly corroded.
The last inspection was not an intrusive test, only a visual assessment which assessed a ‘low level’ of rust.
An acceptable level of rust was not specified, leaving this to the inspector’s own interpretation.
The extent of the corrosion had not been verified by the company as the level of rust had been rated as ‘low’ in the final inspection report.
The spider deck area was not mapped as part of the site routine hazard hunt walkabout and was seldom accessed.
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What did they learn?
Carry out periodic maintenance and surveillance for the gratings located at the sea deck, spider deck and boat landing area – these gratings are more exposed to harsh environment conditions.
If workers need to access the spider deck area, the permit to work (PTW) coordinator should explain the risks.
Routine hazard hunts and housekeeping should include every part of the platform.
Calibrate the acceptance/failure criteria for grating assessment during topside structure inspection.
- Review topside structure inspection reports, especially for corrosion activity.
- Develop standard operating procedure for topside structure inspection and competency requirements for inspectors.
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Ask yourself or your crew
Are there any areas of your site that are not routinely walked for hazard hunts?
- Where are they?
- What should you do?
What areas on your site could suffer from corrosion?
- What is the inspection procedure for those areas?
Do all assessors carrying out inspections work to the same inspection regime? What is the criteria for acceptable/unacceptable levels of rust?
What other hazards should we look out for?
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Published on 25/07/21
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Three workers were walking on a platform spider deck walkway when a floor grating panel broke under the weight of one of them. They were rescued by the other workers.
