Offshore firms fined £1.2 million over death of worker

Jocelyn Dorrell | Prosecutions and Claims |
10.10.2008

Offshore operator Talisman Energy UK and contractor Aker Kvaerner Offshore Partner have together been fined £1.2 million after a worker was killed and another injured when they were hit by falling steel clamps.

In January 2007, pipe-fitter Matthew Grey and rigging foreman Norman Jackson were working inside a cargo oil tank, 20 metres below the deck of the Bleo Holm - a floating production, storage and offtake vessel in the Outer Moray Firth, 70 miles north-east of Aberdeen. Both men were employees of Aker Kvaerner, which had been contracted by installation operator Talisman Energy to carry out work in the tank.

They were cutting a pipe and using a pneumatic hoist to lift items out of the tank and through a small hatch onto the deck, when a load - which included two steel clamps weighing 21.5kg - fell into the tank below. It is thought one of the clamps struck Grey, who was pronounced dead a short time later. Another clamp ricocheted off a surface before hitting and injuring Jackson.

Grey was 60-years-old when he died and had been due to retire.

An HSE investigation revealed that three men had been working in the tank at the time of the incident - Grey, Jackson and another colleague - though the permit-to-work said there should have been a maximum of two. Aker supervisor Samuel McKellar had arranged the work permits, but they had been amended later to specify a two-person maximum. Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard there had been a "failure in communication" between the Aker supervisor and the Talisman Area Authority, which issues permit changes.
 
The men relied on hand signals during the lifting operation, rather than radios as stipulated in the permit, because the companies had failed to make sure radios were supplied and used. HSE inspector Colin Richards said employers must ensure their systems of work for lifting operations include "an effective and agreed system of communication among the personnel involved" and final confirmation when the operation has been completed so that workers know when it is safe to enter the designated danger zone.

Talisman and Aker Kvaerner both admitted failing to ensure the men's safety, in breach of Sections 3(1) and 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act respectively.

On 9 October, each company was fined £600,000. The fines included a 25% discount on account of the firms' guilty pleas. Costs are not awarded under Scottish law.

Jack Davidson, for Talisman, said the company had implemented a range of new procedures to prevent a repeat of the incident. Rhona Jamieson, for Aker, apologised for the failures leading to the fatality.
 
Sheriff Douglas Cusine acknowledged that both companies had made changes to working practices since the incident.

In August, the HSE released its latest offshore safety statistics bulletin for fatal and major injuries to offshore workers. Provisional figures show an increase in the number of major injuries from 39 in 2006/07 to 44 in 2007/08.

The combined fatal and major injury rate increased to 156.41 per 100,000 workers compared to 145.51 in 2006/07, ending an established downward trend.