Published: 18 Sep 2009
The Maritime Union has called for action on safety after a serious accident at a liquefied natural gas plant off Western Australia, Australian Associated Press reports
The Maritime Union has called for action on safety after a serious accident at a liquefied natural gas plant off Western Australia, Australian Associated Press reports
At issue is the confusion over the jurisdiction of offshore facilities, vessels and oil rigs, unions say.
A worker was badly injured when he was hit on the back of the head with a crane sling while unloading pipes off a vessel at the Woodside's Pluto LNG site north-west of Karratha.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) took 24 hours to arrive at a decision on which body would investigate the accident.
"This mess between the safety regulators is absolutely no help in trying to lift safety standards in the oil and gas industry," MUA Secretary Chris Cain said.
He said MUA members were prepared to down tools over their concerns at the situation after several near misses at the Pluto site.
"Our members have been saying if we have to stop the job ... then we will," he said.
"It's not industrial action."
