Crush incident on scallop dredger Olivia Jean with loss of 1 life
Location: North-east of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Accident Investigation Report 5/2021
Read our marine accident investigation report, which includes what happened, actions taken and recommendations:
Summary
At about 2200 on 28 June 2019, a crew member on board the scallop dredger Olivia Jean was fatally injured when he was struck on the head by a scallop dredge towing bar while working on deck. The vessel was approximately 39 miles north-east of Aberdeen at the time.
Safety Issues
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the deck operations were not being properly supervised or controlled
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communication between crew members was hampered by a lack of a common language and the poor level of spoken English
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the controls listed in the vessel’s risk assessment to mitigate the severity were not being followed at the time of the accident
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the vessel’s safety management system was incomplete and was not being properly used or maintained on board Olivia Jean
Statement from the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents
Recommendations
Recommendations (2021/106, 2021/107 and 2021/108) have been made to Olivia Jean’s managers aimed at improving the safety management on board its fleet, through the utilisation and full implementation of a fishing safety management system, as recommended by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in its Marine Guidance Note 596 (F) - Fishing Safety Management Code: Helping to improve the management of safety on Fishing Vessels.
Related publications
A safety flyer to the fishing industry highlighting a number of the safety lessons was produced for this report.