12/09/2003

Safety investigation after two killed on platform

Safety on offshore gas production platforms has come under scrutiny after a natural gas leak on a Royal Dutch/Shell killed two workers on Thursday.

The two workers named as Keith Moncrieff, 45, from Tayside and Sean McCue, 22, from Fife were killed in an incident during which gas was apparently released into the utility leg of the Brent Bravo platform.

In the operation to evacuate non-essential workers, 60 personnel were ferried by helicopter to nearby platforms. Today helicopters remained on stand-by in preparation for an emergency evacuation of the remaining workers on the platform which is almost 120 miles off the Scottish coast.

A Health and Safety Executive investigation has been launched in an attempt to determine the cause of the fatal accident.

It is understood that the investigation by police, HSE investigators and a company team may take weeks to complete.

The Shell group has had one of the best production platform safety records in the world, but last week Norwegian authorities were reported to be investigating one of the largest ever oil spills into the Norwegian seal from a platform in the Draugen field.

(SP)

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