Thursday November 8th, 2007 / 11h34
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The U.K. safety watchdog has upheld all but one complaint made by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) workers on facilities it intends to sell, trade unions said Thursday.
In a press statement, unions Unite and OILC said complaints sent in September have been upheld by the Health and Safety Executive, or HSE, except one.
The unions said Shell had been neglecting safety on several platforms in the North Sea platforms up for sale – Cormorant Alpha, Dunlin Alpha, Tern, Eider and North Cormorant.
The unions said they had submitted “formal complaints to (the HSE) regarding manning levels, specifically in safety critical areas; staff competency; workloads; shortages in fire teams; and the general health and morale of the workforce.”
The regulator upheld all complaints except one, saying it “could find no evidence during the course of an inspection offshore that Emergency Response Team numbers were deficient in any way.”
As a result of the complaints being upheld, the union said Shell will be asked to address areas such as “including the issue of working hours in their assessment of staff numbers and fatigue” or to “produce a unified competency standard for all staff.”
Shell and the HSE couldn’t be reached for comment.
By Benoit Faucon, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-9266; [email protected]
http://www.easybourse.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=335964
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