600 workers strike after LNG site death (From Milford Mercury)

600 workers strike after LNG site death

10:42am Thursday 3rd July 2008

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The Dragon LNG site in Waterston has refuted claims its working conditions are unsafe after 600 employees walked out in protest yesterday (Wednesday).

Workers congregated outside the main entrance at 8am for discussions with trade union officials and held a second meeting at about 10am.

The walkout followed the sudden death on Sunday afternoon of Anthony Peter Luff, aged 43, from a suspected heart attack.

Mr Luff, who worked as a welding inspector on the site, and was part of the quality control team, was up scaffolding at the time.

Rob Brodrick, from Pembroke, said more could have been done to prevent Sunday's tragedy.

He said: "It took staff over an hour to find him. He shouldn't even have been left to work on his own in the first place."

However, in a statement released yesterday, a Dragon spokesman said medically trained staff reached Mr Luff within minutes.

"We have reviewed the emergency response procedure and find that it worked well with medical attention arriving in less than five minutes," the statement read.

"Safety of all employees on site is of paramount importance to both Dragon LNG and its contractors. Our response team are both qualified and experienced. They acted in a thoroughly professional manner.

"We were all saddened by the death, and also further saddened that this tragic event has led to people taking industrial action."

The company added there was no evidence to back workers' claims that radios on site were not in use at the time of the death, saying the medical team's response was a result of radio notification.

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