MAIB Report: Fatal Accident on board fishing vessel Olivia Jean
A crew member was struck by moving fishing equipment on the deck of fishing vessel Olivia Jean resulting in fatal crush injuries.
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.
The key safety issues identified were:
The deck operations were not being properly supervised or controlled.
Communication between crew members was hampered by a lack of a common language and the poor level of spoken English.
The controls listed in the vessel’s risk assessment to mitigate the severity were not being followed at the time of the accident.
The vessel’s safety management system was incomplete and was not being properly used or maintained on board Olivia Jean.Safety recommendations:Recommendations have been made to Olivia Jean’s managers, TN Enterprises Ltd, 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.
