National Safety Alert No. 4
Issued October 6, 2000    
Revised March 31, 2009  

SAFETY ALERT

Shackle Failures

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement is revising Safety Alert No. 4 by deleting misleading information on the appearance of the inferior shackles. The revised Safety Alert follows:

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement has learned that some operators in the Gulf of Mexico have discovered shackles in use at their facilities that have failed in crane and other lifting operations. Some of the inferior shackles were discovered on the swing ropes at some facilities. The inferior shackles in question were manufactured outside the United States, and are not on the companies' lists of approved shackles.

This safety alert is provided for information purposes only. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement has no regulations requiring that certain shackles be used on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement requests your attention to this important matter.

For further information, please contact Joe Levine, (703) 787-1033.