Coast Guard issues Safety Alert regarding “nuisance alarms”, a lesson in process safety as well
Recently in the Pacific North West, Coast Guard marine inspectors experienced two different circumstances involving the alarm and control system of steering gears onboard relatively new vessels. Although neither event resulted in a marine casualty, they serve as a reminder to the potentially dangerous results that may occur when an alarm system is deliberately ignored. A false sense of operational safety develops when crew members continually silence what they consider to be a “nuisance alarm,” enabling a false perception of normalcy to develop. Inspectors observed on two vessels that repetitive alarms occurred every time crew members performed steering tests that attempted to move the rudder through its range of motion. The alarms indicated that “hydraulic lock” events had occurred. Each time, the alarm was simply acknowledged by the crew and the steering gear adequately moved the rudder. However, no further investigation was conducted to identify the cause of the alarm. |
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