Less than a month after a March helicopter crash that killed 17 people en route to oilfields off the Newfoundland coast, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board has begun the process of setting up an inquiry on worker safety.

They are currently looking at potential commissioners, and compiling terms of reference, in order to review any worker safety issues raised in the wake of the crash of a Sikorsky S-92A helicopter. Such an inquiry is mandatory if offshore activity “results in death or injury or danger to public safety or the environment,” according to the Atlantic Accord Act, but it will be a first for the petroleum board.

The board says it will not examine issues covered by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s investigation. Instead, it is reviewing the chain of events that led to the crash. The intent is to make the inquiry wide ranging enough to satisfy the victims’ families. They also note that some offshore workers’ concerns about the safety of the helicopters are valid.

In the meantime, RCMP investigators interviewed Robert Decker, the lone survivor of the crash last week, and Decker gave a “full account of the events surrounding the crash.” The information will be provided to the TSB and the petroleum Board.

“While the TSB is ongoing, and since there are privacy concerns, the RCMP will not be in a position to recount his story,” said a RCMP news release.

Tags: injury, Worker Safety

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