Bechtel has revealed that there was no single, isolated cause of an incident at an under construction LNG plant last April, which claimed three lives.
A five-person crew was performing elevated tank work at the Port Arthur LNG facility when the climbing form work system on which they were standing gave way, killing three of the team and injuring the other two.
The contractor said that it had identified multiple contributing factors in its review.
One of the most important takeaways from the report was the role that safety culture played and, in some cases, failed to play.
Safety culture isn’t the same everywhere, the company said. It can shift from project to project, crew to crew, and even task to task. In reviewing the incident, breakdowns in oversight and supervision were found, by which moments to step in and take corrective action were missed.
Bechtel added that it had been co-operating fully with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in its investigation.
In addition to co-operating with OSHA, the company carried out its own internal investigation.
Its report provided a detailed account of what went wrong, along with the actions being taken to address the shortcomings, the company claimed.
The purpose of sharing its findings is to promote transparency, accountability, and learning, helping Bechtel, and the industry, anticipate risks and act proactively on safety, the company said.
