April 27, 2009

Health and Safety

Record number of charges laid in Alberta oilsands deaths

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

A record number of safety charges have been laid by the Alberta government after the death of two foreign workers at a massive oilsands construction project two years ago.

However, the findings of an investigation into the incident were not released.

“What we were expecting was to see the report released,” said Wayne Prins, Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) representative.

“The investigation has been completed and the report finished, so the government has pressed charges. But, they really didn’t release that much information.”

What is known is that welder Ge Genbao, 27, and electrical engineer Lui Hongliang, 33, were killed on April 27, 2007, at the Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) Horizon oilsands project north of Fort McMurray.

The Chinese temporary foreign workers were welding the wall structure inside a massive storage tank, when the roof support structure collapsed on top of them.

Two other foreign workers were seriously injured and three more sustained minor injuries.

Under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, fifty-three charges have been laid against three companies for the deaths and the injuries.

“I think they (the government) have taken this very seriously,” said Prins.

“There has been some criticism about how long it has taken, but the charges are thorough. They (the government) will not likely pursue all charges, but they will pursue a lot until the end.”

Critics have accused the government of carrying out a public relations exercise to make it appear they are getting tough on unsafe construction sites. They claim most of the charges will be dropped in the end.

CNRL, who operates the construction site at the oilsands project, hired Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company (SSEC) to build the storage tanks.

SSEC is the Canadian arm of the Chinese state – owned oil company Sinopec.

These companies face charges including several counts for failing to ensure the health and safety of the workers.

Other charges include failing to ensure that a professional engineer prepared and certified drawings and procedures; failing to ensure the roof support structure inside the tank was stable during assembly; failing to ensure that U-bolt type clips used for fastening rope wire were installed properly; and failing to ensure that wire rope being used was safe.

When the charges are broken down, SSEC Canada Ltd. has 14 counts, Sinopec has ten counts and CNRL is charged with 29 counts.

Both SSEC Canada Ltd. and CNRL have made only a brief statements about the investigation and subsequent charges.

In a press release, CNRL said that it has maintained a strong safety record on the construction site for the duration of the Horizon project.

“The company SSEC Canada has received and is reviewing the charges and will fully respond to them,” said SSEC business manager Helen Wang.

The first court appearance for all three companies will be June 8 in Fort McMurray provincial court.

The maximum penalty for a first offence under the Occupational Health and Safety Act is $500,000 for each charge.

The construction, commissioning and staged start up of the Horizon oilsands project resulted in the first production of synthetic crude oil from Phase 1 on Feb 28.

The Horizon project was designed, engineered and built in an extremely volatile and inflationary business environment with final construction costs totaling about $9.7 billion. The initial cost estimate was $6.8 billion.

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