A call is being made for an investigation into an accident at Perenco’s offshore Samaan field.
A worker was treated for injuries after a crane became detached from its pedestal yesterday.
While he has since been discharged, the Banking, Insurance and General Workers Union says the incident raises serious questions about the safety and integrity of crane operations.
It insists that “no operational requirement, production target or commercial consideration can take precedence over the preservation of human life.”
The union also dismissed the fact that the worker is not a BIGWU member, saying that was “entirely irrelevant” to the issue of occupational health and safety.
There are claims that Perenco employees are now apprehensive about the continued use of cranes for personnel transfers, which the union says are legitimate.
In addition to the investigation, BIGWU is calling on Perenco to immediately suspend such crane operations if their safety has not been independently verified.
