Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC) had a high potential near miss incident involving a dropped object on the West Aquarius offshore drilling rig on February 5, 2017. The details and potential consequences of the incident were included in HMDC’s investigation report, which was provided to the C-NLOPB on February 28th.

The C-NLOPB is following up with HMDC on the incident and the investigation report. It is now known that two workers were in the area when a hinged roller weighing 2.3 kilograms fell 18 metres to the drill floor. The object landed within two metres of the closest worker. Ongoing work was immediately stopped and the area was secured. Although there were no injuries associated with this incident, it had the potential for fatality.

Under the C-NLOPB’s Incident Reporting and Investigation Guidelines, Operators have two weeks from the date of the incident to submit an investigation report to the C-NLOPB. Additional time to complete the report may be granted upon request. The details of the incident and root cause are identified in the final report.

Media Contacts:

HMDC Contact
Margot Bruce O’Connell
HMDC Public Affairs
709 778-7222
margot.p.bruce-o’connell@exxonmobil.com

C-NLOPB
Sean Kelly APR, FCPRS
Manager of Public Relations
709 778-1418
709 689-0713 (cell)
skelly@cnlopb.ca