The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has launched an investigation into the death of an oil platform worker at an Energy Resource Technology (ERT) platform on Oct. 27.
The federal bureau is convening a panel of investigators from the BSEE, engineers and a Coast Guard representative. According to BSEE director Brian Salerno, the panel will look thoroughly into the incident. The bureau is committed to identifying what caused the tragic death of the worker and intends to set down measures for improving the safety of future operations, he said.
The incident happened at an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, about 75 miles southeast of Lake Charles. The 38-year-old Filipino worker, Peter Jorge E. Voces, a welder and member of a derrick barge crew, was helping his colleagues to dismantle a platform. For unknown reasons, he fell into the Gulf and died. His body was found later near the platform, the BSEE explained.
This is the second incident in which a Filipino worker has died at an oil rig in less than a year. It is also the second incident on a platform operated by ERT in about two years. In August 2011, a fatal crane accident occurred at another ERT facility in the Gulf.
