AN OIL rig owned by China's Sinopec Star Petroleum and operated by Denmark's Maersk Drilling has been found to have had asbestos on it.
Former worker and elected health and safety officer on the rig, Dieter Vetter, says that asbestos had posed danger to workers refurbishing the rig. He alleges he was squeezed out of his position because he raised concerns about safety.
State union officials say that the rig's owners were pushing hard to meet a deadline to guide the rig back through shipping channels into Bass Strait and have accused the company of not taking proper precautions.
Maersk Drilling says that asbestos had been found and dealt with in pipe gaskets and an exhaust system on the rig. The company’s senior general manager of engineering Jakob Diemer said an asbestos audit carried out on the rig in Trinidad by an Australian company had issued an all-clear.
Diemer says that while finding the asbestos had been frustrating, the company had gone to extra lengths to ensure safety.
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