New safety protocols at Fawley after death

Fawley Refinery Fawley Refinery

SAFETY procedures have been tightened at Fawley Oil Refinery after a worker was crushed to death in a tragic accident.

Bosses at the giant Esso-owned facility have issued instructions that all equipment being moved must be connected to a crane before being unloaded.

It follows the death of 57- year-old grandfather Tony McGowan last year, who suffered major injuries when a 3.5-tonne section of pipe rolled off a lorry.

His two devastated sons last night said they hoped lessons from the tragedy would help avoid another family suffering “the pain and anger we have experienced”.

The 6.5-metre steelwork began moving immediately after the final strap securing it to the flat bed truck was removed by the rigger’s apprentice colleague.

Southampton Coroner’s Court heard the workers had not attached it to a waiting crane before releasing the fastenings, leaving nothing to stop it rolling.

Mr McGowan, of Ebbw Vale in south-east Wales, suffered several broken ribs and a broken pelvis, and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at Southampton General Hospital on July 21, 2011.

Esso bosses, who last night said everyone at Fawley had been “deeply saddened” by his death, which happened early in a major five-year refurbishment project, swiftly introduced instructions that all items moved must be hooked to a crane before fastenings are removed for unloading.

The inquest heard other workers had assumed the first step of unloading the pipe, which was taken from the marine terminal to the Solent View area of the plant, would have been to attach it, but that was left to the discretion of “vastly experienced” and “extremely safety conscious” Mr McGowan.

Coroner Keith Wiseman said the unloading process should have been much simpler than the complex operation to remove the pipe from its original position.

He said: “In bitter experience, it’s just at those moments that the guard can go down ever so slightly.”

“In those two minutes, months of planning and organising of the day and the difficulties of travelling with this piece came to nought.”

The jury returned a narrative verdict outlining the details of the tragedy.

Comments(15)

malcher says...
2:03pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Hope the apprentice is receiving all the necessary support.
There are too many accidents in the constuction industry and I would hope mechanisms were in place to prevent oversights like this taking place especially in such a large organisation!
Sypathies for Mr McGowan and family, of course, go without saying.

southy says...
2:11pm Wed 19 Sep 12

RIP Mr McGowan.


Riggers are not the same as the ones that came up though the ranks up untill Thatcher changed it all, riggers don't have at lest 4 years deep sea learning the basics of the trade any more, like in this case a fully trained Rigger would of put the wedges in place before removing the strapes off the pipe to stop it from rolling.

“In those two minutes, months of planning and organising of the day and the difficulties of travelling with this piece came to nought.”
And who was it who done the planning, if planned correctly and by the right people like it use to be in the refinery, this simple error would not of happened, That refinery needs J. Wheeler back there, some of the worlds best riggers are black listed to work in the refinery, because they never let any saftly issue get pass them.

malcher says...
2:49pm Wed 19 Sep 12

southy wrote:
RIP Mr McGowan. Riggers are not the same as the ones that came up though the ranks up untill Thatcher changed it all, riggers don't have at lest 4 years deep sea learning the basics of the trade any more, like in this case a fully trained Rigger would of put the wedges in place before removing the strapes off the pipe to stop it from rolling. “In those two minutes, months of planning and organising of the day and the difficulties of travelling with this piece came to nought.” And who was it who done the planning, if planned correctly and by the right people like it use to be in the refinery, this simple error would not of happened, That refinery needs J. Wheeler back there, some of the worlds best riggers are black listed to work in the refinery, because they never let any saftly issue get pass them.
Mr Wheeler was not the only one blacklisted. A lot of us were branded trouble makers by companies and individuals on site to cover up their own inadequacies, when all we were concered about was conditions on site. Because of this attitude, driven I'm sure, by Esso, there is now very little unionisation on the site. This is detrimental to site safety and I fear the erosion of safety procedures on site, partly due to this will lead to more incidents.
Glad I don't live nearby and I'm not allowed to work there. Good luck to those who do!!!!

southy says...
4:05pm Wed 19 Sep 12

malcher wrote:
southy wrote:
RIP Mr McGowan. Riggers are not the same as the ones that came up though the ranks up untill Thatcher changed it all, riggers don't have at lest 4 years deep sea learning the basics of the trade any more, like in this case a fully trained Rigger would of put the wedges in place before removing the strapes off the pipe to stop it from rolling. “In those two minutes, months of planning and organising of the day and the difficulties of travelling with this piece came to nought.” And who was it who done the planning, if planned correctly and by the right people like it use to be in the refinery, this simple error would not of happened, That refinery needs J. Wheeler back there, some of the worlds best riggers are black listed to work in the refinery, because they never let any saftly issue get pass them.
Mr Wheeler was not the only one blacklisted. A lot of us were branded trouble makers by companies and individuals on site to cover up their own inadequacies, when all we were concered about was conditions on site. Because of this attitude, driven I'm sure, by Esso, there is now very little unionisation on the site. This is detrimental to site safety and I fear the erosion of safety procedures on site, partly due to this will lead to more incidents.
Glad I don't live nearby and I'm not allowed to work there. Good luck to those who do!!!!
Yes I know it started in 1985 by yours truly FW's Maxwell he targgeted the Weilders Mates to get rid off first.

forest hump says...
7:05pm Wed 19 Sep 12

southy wrote:
malcher wrote:
southy wrote:
RIP Mr McGowan. Riggers are not the same as the ones that came up though the ranks up untill Thatcher changed it all, riggers don't have at lest 4 years deep sea learning the basics of the trade any more, like in this case a fully trained Rigger would of put the wedges in place before removing the strapes off the pipe to stop it from rolling. “In those two minutes, months of planning and organising of the day and the difficulties of travelling with this piece came to nought.” And who was it who done the planning, if planned correctly and by the right people like it use to be in the refinery, this simple error would not of happened, That refinery needs J. Wheeler back there, some of the worlds best riggers are black listed to work in the refinery, because they never let any saftly issue get pass them.
Mr Wheeler was not the only one blacklisted. A lot of us were branded trouble makers by companies and individuals on site to cover up their own inadequacies, when all we were concered about was conditions on site. Because of this attitude, driven I'm sure, by Esso, there is now very little unionisation on the site. This is detrimental to site safety and I fear the erosion of safety procedures on site, partly due to this will lead to more incidents.
Glad I don't live nearby and I'm not allowed to work there. Good luck to those who do!!!!
Yes I know it started in 1985 by yours truly FW's Maxwell he targgeted the Weilders Mates to get rid off first.
And may I ask what did the weilders used to weild?
Again, absolute drivel.

Huey says...
7:26pm Wed 19 Sep 12

I work there it is a great place to work and the pay is very good

southy says...
7:37pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Huey wrote:
I work there it is a great place to work and the pay is very good
Not as good as it use to be.

southy says...
7:43pm Wed 19 Sep 12

forest hump wrote:
southy wrote:
malcher wrote:
southy wrote:
RIP Mr McGowan. Riggers are not the same as the ones that came up though the ranks up untill Thatcher changed it all, riggers don't have at lest 4 years deep sea learning the basics of the trade any more, like in this case a fully trained Rigger would of put the wedges in place before removing the strapes off the pipe to stop it from rolling. “In those two minutes, months of planning and organising of the day and the difficulties of travelling with this piece came to nought.” And who was it who done the planning, if planned correctly and by the right people like it use to be in the refinery, this simple error would not of happened, That refinery needs J. Wheeler back there, some of the worlds best riggers are black listed to work in the refinery, because they never let any saftly issue get pass them.
Mr Wheeler was not the only one blacklisted. A lot of us were branded trouble makers by companies and individuals on site to cover up their own inadequacies, when all we were concered about was conditions on site. Because of this attitude, driven I'm sure, by Esso, there is now very little unionisation on the site. This is detrimental to site safety and I fear the erosion of safety procedures on site, partly due to this will lead to more incidents.
Glad I don't live nearby and I'm not allowed to work there. Good luck to those who do!!!!
Yes I know it started in 1985 by yours truly FW's Maxwell he targgeted the Weilders Mates to get rid off first.
And may I ask what did the weilders used to weild?
Again, absolute drivel.
Welders
And its not drivel, I work there offten enough and i see the changes starting to happen in 1985 and by the end of that year there was no more welders mates, only labours who had to do there jobs as well any other labouring jobs.

Torchie1 says...
11:12pm Wed 19 Sep 12

southy wrote:
forest hump wrote:
southy wrote:
malcher wrote:
southy wrote:
RIP Mr McGowan. Riggers are not the same as the ones that came up though the ranks up untill Thatcher changed it all, riggers don't have at lest 4 years deep sea learning the basics of the trade any more, like in this case a fully trained Rigger would of put the wedges in place before removing the strapes off the pipe to stop it from rolling. “In those two minutes, months of planning and organising of the day and the difficulties of travelling with this piece came to nought.” And who was it who done the planning, if planned correctly and by the right people like it use to be in the refinery, this simple error would not of happened, That refinery needs J. Wheeler back there, some of the worlds best riggers are black listed to work in the refinery, because they never let any saftly issue get pass them.
Mr Wheeler was not the only one blacklisted. A lot of us were branded trouble makers by companies and individuals on site to cover up their own inadequacies, when all we were concered about was conditions on site. Because of this attitude, driven I'm sure, by Esso, there is now very little unionisation on the site. This is detrimental to site safety and I fear the erosion of safety procedures on site, partly due to this will lead to more incidents.
Glad I don't live nearby and I'm not allowed to work there. Good luck to those who do!!!!
Yes I know it started in 1985 by yours truly FW's Maxwell he targgeted the Weilders Mates to get rid off first.
And may I ask what did the weilders used to weild?
Again, absolute drivel.
Welders
And its not drivel, I work there offten enough and i see the changes starting to happen in 1985 and by the end of that year there was no more welders mates, only labours who had to do there jobs as well any other labouring jobs.
You mean the poor lambs had to reduce the number of tea and smoke breaks?

southy says...
12:00pm Thu 20 Sep 12

Torchie1 wrote:
southy wrote:
forest hump wrote:
southy wrote:
malcher wrote:
southy wrote:
RIP Mr McGowan. Riggers are not the same as the ones that came up though the ranks up untill Thatcher changed it all, riggers don't have at lest 4 years deep sea learning the basics of the trade any more, like in this case a fully trained Rigger would of put the wedges in place before removing the strapes off the pipe to stop it from rolling. “In those two minutes, months of planning and organising of the day and the difficulties of travelling with this piece came to nought.” And who was it who done the planning, if planned correctly and by the right people like it use to be in the refinery, this simple error would not of happened, That refinery needs J. Wheeler back there, some of the worlds best riggers are black listed to work in the refinery, because they never let any saftly issue get pass them.
Mr Wheeler was not the only one blacklisted. A lot of us were branded trouble makers by companies and individuals on site to cover up their own inadequacies, when all we were concered about was conditions on site. Because of this attitude, driven I'm sure, by Esso, there is now very little unionisation on the site. This is detrimental to site safety and I fear the erosion of safety procedures on site, partly due to this will lead to more incidents.
Glad I don't live nearby and I'm not allowed to work there. Good luck to those who do!!!!
Yes I know it started in 1985 by yours truly FW's Maxwell he targgeted the Weilders Mates to get rid off first.
And may I ask what did the weilders used to weild?
Again, absolute drivel.
Welders
And its not drivel, I work there offten enough and i see the changes starting to happen in 1985 and by the end of that year there was no more welders mates, only labours who had to do there jobs as well any other labouring jobs.
You mean the poor lambs had to reduce the number of tea and smoke breaks?
No because the bosses did not want to pay the 1p hour extra for 5 to 8 welders maters to look after around 300 welders to help make sure the jobs got done and on time.

espanuel says...
1:14pm Thu 20 Sep 12

Southy,what a load of drival. One of the highest records in safety in the UK and also it had nothing to do with ESSO about welders mates as you still had mates on Esso for a few years I do know as I was employed with Esso 33 years. When did you last work in the refinery? you are just listening to barrack room lawyers. And also why make a comment on what he should have done, WERE YOU THERE?

southy says...
1:44pm Thu 20 Sep 12

espanuel wrote:
Southy,what a load of drival. One of the highest records in safety in the UK and also it had nothing to do with ESSO about welders mates as you still had mates on Esso for a few years I do know as I was employed with Esso 33 years. When did you last work in the refinery? you are just listening to barrack room lawyers. And also why make a comment on what he should have done, WERE YOU THERE?
In the 90's was the last time and all the welders mates was gone, and what you had in there place was labourers doing there job on labourers wage, and still having to do other labour jobs, what they done was made the welders mates jobs labours jobs, and that was still inplace this year, and looks it will be inplace again next year contract when they bring in overseas contract workers, and you can double check what i said by contacting the union and they will just confirm what i said, so please stop trying to make out Esso is goody two shoes and the contractors that do the jobs, Mind you did you not say you work in a office for Esso directly or was that some one else, I will give Fawley its due it is one of the safest refinerys in the UK, but that record as been dropping in the last 25 years.
Also I was not there, but I did know what happened its handy to still know people that still work there, and i still have close contact, do you know the contrators saftly officers or the rigger shop steward I do.

southy says...
1:53pm Thu 20 Sep 12

malcher knows what is going on in the refinery which proves to me that he has work there more than once and the chances of knowing each other well face at lest would be very high, but as with you i probley would not even know you in the refinery because you don't seem to know what is going on in there for the last 25 years.

espanuel says...
2:59pm Thu 20 Sep 12

Southy, I was on process on the cat and resid units for 33years so I do know what went and also I was a shop steward and safety rep and process co-ordinator on process.

forest hump says...
7:02pm Thu 20 Sep 12

espanuel wrote:
Southy, I was on process on the cat and resid units for 33years so I do know what went and also I was a shop steward and safety rep and process co-ordinator on process.
espanuel, I expect Maggie was involved somewhere! this guy is clueless!

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