Shell Fined for Death of Offshore Workers on Brent Bravo

Shell have been fined £900,000 for failures which led to the death of two offshore workers.

At Stonehaven Sheriff Court yesterday, Shell were declared guilty of 'a substantial catalogue of failures' which led to the deaths of Keith Moncrieff and Sean McCue. They died in September 2003 after being exposed to up to 2.5 tonnes of hydrocarbon vapour which turned into gas on the Shell Brent Bravo platform in the North Sea.

The £900,000 fine is the highest ever for for a health and safety breach in the North Sea. Both men were on a utility leg on the platform, 116 miles north-east of Lerwick, when the gas escaped. The two workers had gone to inspect a patch which had been placed on a pipe to prevent leaks. A broken valve led to an escape of hydrocarbon gases through the leak, which suffocated the men.

Fining Shell yesterday, sheriff Patrick Davies said he hoped it would be a warning to other big companies. Shell had earlier admitted three health and safety breaches including failing to carry out a risk assessment on the platform. They also admitted failing to ensure the safety of the two men by not maintaining three valves within the pipe and fitting the pipe with an unsuitable patch.

Greg Hill, production director of Shell Exploration and Production in Europe, said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of Keith and Sean. It is clear that a complex series of factors led to this incident. It is also clear that we had failures in our systems and we feel 100 per cent responsible for the deaths of these men.". He said the company had carried out a number of checks on their installations across Europe.

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Posted 28/04/05

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