Marine insurer UK P&I Club is continuing to offer insights through its Lessons Learnt video series and this time it is shining the spotlight on leaks in the engine room.
An animated video outlines a serious injury suffered while a suspected leak is checked from the main steam dump valve gasket in the engine room. When the leak is spotted, the first engineer instructs both the second and third engineers to stop the boiler’s operation, drain the steam and water, and de-pressurise it.
When the process is complete, he begins to dismantle the valve – but when the valve bonnet is removed, steam and hot water fly out at high pressure. This leaves the engineer with extensive injuries across both his body and face.
“This type of burn injury is typical of the many reported to the UK P&I Club every year,” said Stuart Edmonston, loss prevention director at UK P&I Club. “The pipeline hadn’t been properly drained, and pressurised steam and hot water remained in the system. The first engineer’s assumption that the system was safe caused complacency, something that can’t be afforded while working on a ship.
“To prevent these incidents, work on steam or hot fluid systems should be subject to a thorough risk assessment, with proper information being shared between team members as to the status of an operation.”
The videos are hosted across the Thomas Miller websites.
