Esso Is To Blame

Date: 15 November 2002

The Victorian Coroner's findings clearly show Esso is to blame for the Longford gas explosion that killed two men, AWU national secretary Bill Shorten said today.

Mr Shorten said the Coroner's findings showed Esso failed on many levels to provide a safe workplace for its workforce.

"This finding is consistent with the rulings of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Royal Commission into the gas explosion, and investigations of the Australian Workers' Union. The question remaining is: When will Esso accept responsibility?'' Mr Shorten said.

"What is particularly aggravating is that Esso has had three different umpires declare it out, yet the company is still batting at the crease spending money defending itself against compensating some workers,'' he said.

"The AWU calls on Esso to fully compensate the workers affected and reimburse the State of Victoria for the costs incurred during these lengthy inquiries,'' he said.

Mr Shorten said the Coroner's findings - that Esso had failed to provide a safe workplace and had inadequate safety training - vindicated workers who were initially blamed by the company for the explosion.

"There is a salient lesson here for all future developers of Australia's natural resources to talk to the AWU and State Government to ensure their workplace has adequate safety training and meets all safety standards,'' he said.

"These findings are a powerful reminder that the word 'accident' has no place in describing the Longford explosion. An accident implies that it was unavoidable. Clearly, the Longford explosion was a terrible incident for which corporate hands are to blame.''

Today's findings include:
· Esso was solely to blame for the gas explosion at Longford.
· Esso failed to conduct detailed periodic risk assessment or a more comprehensive hazard audit in accordance with its own procedures
· If risk assessment had been carried out the tragic incident may have been avoidable
· Esso's established systems could have avoided the disaster if they were put in place.

Recommendations include:
· Tougher accountability process of system errors
· Better communications between staff and management
· Establishment of an industry-wide database to catalogue plant failures

For further information

Contact:	Andrea Carson, AWU Media Officer
Union:	Labor Council of NSW
Phone:	(03) 8327 0828
Contact Mobile:	0407 041 933
WWW:	http://www.awu.net.au

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