BP fined £650,000 after offshore worker's fall death
- Published
Sean Anderson died nine years ago
Energy firm BP has been fined £650,000 after a worker died when he plunged from an offshore platform into the sea.
Sean Anderson, 43, fell through an open grating on the Unity installation, about 112 miles (180km) north-east of Aberdeen, on 4 September 2014.
Mr Anderson, from the Tyne and Wear area, fell about 72ft (22m) into the water.
BP had been found guilty of breaching health and safety laws last week by a jury at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Graham Buchanan said that although what happened was "tragic and devastating" for Mr Anderson's family, it had been an isolated incident.
He added that a man had died, and that a fine on a profitable company such as BP must have "some economic impact".
Mr Anderson had been working as a scaffolder for Cape, a company which was carrying out work on the platform. Unity was being operated by BP at the time of the incident.
The court heard that Mr Anderson fell through the open grate at about 04:00.
The alarm was raised and a fast-rescue craft found him face down in the water.
Despite attempts to resuscitate him, Mr Anderson was pronounced dead.
The cause of death was given as head and chest injuries as a result of his fall.
BP had pled not guilty to health and safety charges, but was convicted by the jury's majority verdict of failing to have suitable control measures in place for open gratings on the platform's lower deck.
Mr Anderson fell through an open grating
During the trial the defence argued that the existence of a hard barrier around the open grating had ensured there was no risk as far as was reasonably practicable.
However, prosecutors said that the open grating did pose a risk, and that other safety measures could have been adopted.
On Wednesday, defence counsel Murdo Macleod KC expressed the company's "deepest condolences" to Mr Anderson's family.
He said it was a highly unusual and rare case, and told Sheriff Buchanan that BP had a "rigorous" approach to safety.
Mr Macleod said no attempt was being made to minimise the fact that a fatality had occurred, but argued that the level of culpability was low.
"It was drilled into every worker that barriers were not to be crossed," he said, describing this as a cardinal rule.
'Failed in their duty'
Following the financial ruling, BP said it acknowledged the outcome of the court proceedings.
"This was a tragic incident," a spokeswoman added. "While we know nothing can be said to change the pain felt by Sean Anderson's family and friends, our deepest condolences remain firmly with them to this day."
A Health and Safety Executive spokesman said: "BP failed in their duty to have suitable and sufficient control measures in place in respect to open gratings on the platform.
"Ultimately these failures resulted in Mr Anderson's death."
At the time of the incident, Cape described Sean as "a popular, hard-working and experienced employee".