Offshore firms pay GBP 400,000 over accident

Two offshore firms have been prosecuted over the death of an employee in an accident caused by the lack of an adequate risk assessment.

Shell UK and the Amec Group have each been fined £150,000 plus £41,500 in costs after pleading guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

While removing treads at a gas installation, a technician fell through the gap this created, suffering severe head and leg injuries.

Dr David Perry, the principal inspector with the Health and Safety Executive, claims the hazards which caused the working at heightaccident were both "well known" and "readily foreseeable".

"Had the companies carried out adequate risk assessments and implemented and supervised the necessary control measures, including the use of a fall arrest harness, this accident could have been avoided," he states.

Last month, Aker Kvaerner Offshore and Talisman Energy paid £1.2 million after a crane accident led to the death of one worker and the injuring of a second.