No technical or construction system is perfect and risk lurks in every area or situation we find ourselves in – probably nowhere more so than in the shipping industry.However if risk assessments are carried out properly, with the aim of avoiding accidents, it will be far less likely that we have to read about the same type of accident occurring again and again.

It goes without saying that proper investigation into the root causes of accidents and near-misses will assist in the prevention of any type of accident re-occurring. If the work is carried out, it means that when a potentially dangerous situation does happen again, the consequences should be less severe because the people involved are ready for it.

However sadly there continue to be reports of accidents that could have been prevented – even though the hazards the people involved faced were already known or else could have been identified beforehand.

One of the most frequent examples of this is enclosed spaces accidents. More seafarers lose their lives or suffer serious injury in a confined space than in any other onboard activity.

The facts and figures are disturbing. Latest data from the UK Marine Accident Investigators Bureau (MAIB) show there were 101 enclosed space incidents in an eleven-year period between 1998 and 2009. Ninety three of them were fatal and another 96 of them injury accidents.

The real lesson we can draw from this is that a properly conducted risk assessment of any enclosed or confined space on board a ship would make the chances of an accident occurring far less likely.

IMO’s revised recommendations for the entry into enclosed spaces onboard ships can be found in IMO Resolution A.1050(27).
Source: Lloyd's Register