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Worker Killed in Offshore Incident

An offshore services company has appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court following an incident in which a worker died after plunging 23 metres from a platform into the sea.

Lee Bertram was working for the company on a platform in the North Sea when the incident happened in 2011.

He had been using ropes to access below the deck and carry out a sweep for dropped objects that could fall into the water, potentially injuring divers working in the sea below.

As Mr Bertram started his ascent to the deck he had to stop, suspended, just below the hatch in order to open the rope protector so he could move his ‘jammer’ up the working rope and past the edge allowing him to move through the hatch.

However, as he pushed down on his foot loop to come up through the hatch both the main and the safety rope sheared against the sharp edge and he fell to the sea – a distance of 23 metres – striking steelwork as he fell.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the job Mr Bertram was undertaking had not been properly planned and was contrary both to industry guidelines and the company’s own procedures.

Inspectors concluded that had the work been properly planned the edge of the hatch would have been identified as being sharp and the risk of rigged ropes coming into contact with it could have been prevented. Instead the ropes were rigged against the edge leading them to be severed.

The company was fined £100,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

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