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Health and safety

MAIB highlights poor training and inadequate PPE in fumigant poisoning incident

23 May 2022

A UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report on a fumigant poisoning accident that left one person injured has found that officers and inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) contributed to the incident.

The incident in Liverpool in July 2021 on the Thorco Angela cargo ship involved cans and pouches of aluminium phosphide, that had been placed between bags of cargo. After handling the fumigant, a Peel Ports Liverpool stevedore suffered ‘sickness and disorientation’.

MAIB found that the crew unloading the material were inadequately trained for such a task, and their PPE was insufficient. Further to this, the Thorco Angela’s officers underestimated the risk involved with using the fumigant and did not adhere to their company’s safety management system.

Peel Ports Liverpool was unaware of the fumigant, as neither the ships master or the shipping company had documented its presence.

As a result of the investigation, MAIB has advised Auerbach MARINE GmbH & Co. KG regarding the errors and the failure to stick to the safety management system.


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