A video of the incident went viral on social media and grabbed national attention. Photo: Boiling Cold.
The Offshore Alliance has called for “heads to roll” after the Western Australian safety regulator said it would not take several companies to court over a 2021 incident in which two workers could have been seriously harmed.
Comprised of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), the Offshore Alliance said in spite of its sustained push to get WorkSafe WA to investigate and pursue prosecutions the regulator would not do so as it believed too much time had passed since the incident.
MUA WA branch secretary Will Tracey said the incident should have led to swift and vigorous prosecutions launched against those deemed responsible.
“It is unconscionable that the safety regulator sat on its hands for almost three years,” he said. “If heads don’t roll for this at WorkSafe the entire agency must be broken apart and rebuilt.
“Our message to the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety in WA is that if they won’t prosecute this breach we are coming after them too.”
The incident, which occurred on 5 July 2021, occurred during the decommissioning of Santos’ Sinbad oil platform.
Santos operates the Varanus Island Hub Offshore Facilities that processes materials extracted from the nearby oil platforms like Sinbad and Campbell. Production had ceased at the Sinbad and Campbell oil platforms nearby, where all wells have been plugged and abandoned.
The Australian oil and gas exploration and production company made the decision to contract with Dutch company Fugro for removing the platforms, Swiss-based Allseas for supplying its crane-equipped ‘Fortitude’ vessel, and rope-access technicians from the then Singapore-listed AusGroup.
During the lifting process of the recovery operation, two offshore workers were nearly hit by the removed head of the platform as it swung without control from the crane. The Offshore Alliance said these workers were also at risk of being killed by the steel lifting cables that broke during the lift and sliced through the air above their heads.
“Santos and Fugro would rather do a job quickly and cheaply than safely, but the WA safety regulator apparently doesn’t want to take any action against these reckless industrial cowboys,” said the MUA’s Assistant National Secretary Thomas Mayo.
“If a safety regulator can’t or won’t do its job then that agency needs a clear-out from top to bottom.”
Following the incident an internal investigation was carried out before operations were allowed to restart.
The oil platform’s substructure was fully recovered on 20 July, and in spite of the near miss – no individual, equipment or asset was damaged. This was one reason Worksafe WA decided not to pursue further action, which was listed in the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) report.
Worksafe WA also said too much time had passed since the incident and the cost of prosecution was beyond the maximum potential fine of $100,000.
Acting National Secretary of the AWU, Kade Wakefield said this decision meant DEMIRS was failing in its mission to keep workers safe and hold employers acting recklessly to account.
“Workers in all sectors need to be confident that there’s a safety regulator with teeth that’s willing to act in the interests of their safety at work,” said Mr Wakefield. “Right now, all we have here is a regulator rolling over and abandoning workers in the hydrocarbons sector.”
In a statement to the ABC, a Santos spokesperson said the safety of workers and the environment were priorities in all its activities, including those of contractors.
“Santos took the Sinbad incident very seriously,” the spokesperson said.
“And took the opportunity to learn from that campaign, working with regulators and contractors to strengthen safety management and assurance processes around contractor-led activities.”
