FATAL ACCIDENT ON BOARD FISHING VESSEL OLIVIA JEAN

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.