CONTAINMENT SPECIAL
CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY - 7 FAILSAFE PULLING
SITUATION: LIFTING NETS INCIDENT: NET TEAR CAUSED BY USING WRONG ROPE
RESPONSE: NOW USING DIFFERENT NETS The situation: Lifting nets is a routine part of all
fi sh farmers’ lives – on small and large pens around the world.
Nets are carefully designed and manu- factured to stand up to the rigours of the environment in which they’re used with strength to spare. Indeed, they’re manufactured using netting and ropes of pre-determined strength. And, they are strength tested in accordance with the Code of Good Practice throughout their working lives.
In this incident we’re particularly interested in the ‘down ropes.’ These are carefully specifi ed to easily take the weight of the net and equipment with plenty of strength in reserve. To get technical for a minute – alter- nate down ropes of some of this company’s nets ended at the lead line and hence did not cross the base of the net. This is not a design fl aw as the down ropes were entirely suited for their purpose – ie to support the weight of the net and equip- ment. It did mean, however, that these ropes should not be used for lifting the net since they are not designed to sup- port the weight of the base of the net. Undertaking a containment risk assess- ment is a requirement of the Code of Good Practice. The company concerned had iden- tifi ed in their risk assessments that al- ternate down ropes in some of their nets did not cross the base of the net. Although the company had not previously experienced any diffi culties from lifting the incorrect down rope – and indeed, we are unaware of any other similar inci-
dents - they still wished to reduce the likelihood of an incident from person- nel inadvertently pulling on the wrong down rope. So they colour-coded the down ropes so that staff could easily identify the correct down rope to use. They then trained all their staff in this system – both existing and new personnel.
The incident:
Unfortunately, on this occasion, staff used the wrong down rope for lifting the net – despite the colour-coding system. The net tore at the base and a small number of fi sh escaped.
THE RESPONSE
Although the company originally felt that they had been very proactive in reducing the likelihood of such an event, they decided they had to go further to eliminate this risk altogether. Nets are expensive. They represent an investment with a useful life of several years. However, the company immediately ‘retired’ all nets in which the ‘down rope’ did not cross the base. They were replaced with nets in which all down ropes crossed the base. This is now company policy.
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