incomplete fusion – Officer of the Watch

Fatal Fall from Offshore Platform – Investigation Report

April 1, 2013 by Officer of the Watch Leave a Comment

On the morning of May 19, 2000, a contract employee was using a portable of Accident winch (come-along) to remove a section of removable guardrail for the purpose of accommodating the installation of the mounting beams of a temporary crane. One end of the come-along was attached to the section of guardrail to be removed, while the other end was attached to a section of fixed guardrail located approximately 5 feet above the guardrail to be removed. As tension was applied to the come-along, the upper guardrail failed at its base welds and detached from the deck. As a result of the detachment, the employee fell approximately 60 feet to the Plus 10 deck and sustained fatal injuries.

Weld Defects in Ships

May 31, 2012 by Nikos Kairis 1 Comment

A welding structure in order to have the required reliability, during her lifetime, it should have satisfactory quality. This means that it should:

Be designed in a way that is appropriate for its sought use during its forecasting lifetime.
Be manufactured from materials and welding methods according to the requirements.
Be used and maintained rightly.

Welding quality is a relative term and this means that it is not necessary a construction to have better quality from what is needed according to the requirements. When the requirements are strict, that has as consequence the cost of production to be extremely high. On the other hand when the requirements are loose, that has as consequence the cost of maintenance to be high and the forecasting lifetime to be reduced.