Australia-Stena Drilling Guilty Over Deaths

One of the world’s biggest drilling companies has pleaded guilty to breaching its duty to provide a safe workplace following the death of two workers on its offshore oil rig.

Stena Drilling Australia, part of the global giant, entered the plea in the Magistrates Court of Victoria yesterday and will be sentenced next Thursday.

The charges, brought by the industry regulator National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, relate to an August 2012 incident aboard the Stena Clyde mobile offshore rig, which had been drilling in the Bass Strait for Origin Energy.

The incident caused the deaths of floorman Peter Meddens and toolpusher Barry Denholm.

The men were operating heavy machinery when part of a drill dislodged and hit one man in the chest and face, killing him instantly. The other man received a blunt trauma to his body.

NOPSEMA said its investigation identified that senior management on theStena Clyde failed to apply the Stena management of change principles in failing to carry out a new risk assessment and toolbox talk after altering the original plan of works.

Further, NOPSEMA said, Stena Drilling conceded that senior members of the drilling crew failed to ensure that a revised risk assessment had been carried out prior to implementing the new plan.

Stena Drilling pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching its specific duty to take all reasonably practicable steps to implement and maintain systems of work that were safe and without risk to health.

In a statement today, Stena said it had cooperated fully with authorities investigating the incident and had taken “all measures that we can to prevent a similar incident in the future”.

“Stena Drilling is committed to maintaining safe working practices on our rigs and we are constantly striving to ensure we have a safe work environment,” the company said.

NOPSEMA chief executive Stuart Smith said the prosecution had reinforced the requirement for an appropriate risk assessment system to be implemented for all stages of work.

“Workers involved should have an opportunity to contribute to this assessment including consideration of factors such as stored energy, equipment design limits, and, impact of external conditions.

“Communication is a key part of any work offshore and supervisors should verify that all workers involved in any task understand their role and any associated risks.”

“All equipment utilised in planned work should be fit for purpose and in good working order. If the equipment is not working correctly, a reassessment of the risks associated with the work or task should be conducted.”

By Peter Klinger

Source: Yahoo News