Hubert Chazarenc was working on a drilling structure belonging to the Perenco oil group, off the coast of Cameroon. He died at the age of 34, after falling 13 meters into the sea. What happened that day in November 2020 on the platform? Have there been any breaches in security?
The journalists of “Complément d’études” were able to obtain the report of the Cameroonian gendarmerie, which investigated on the spot the day after the tragedy. The photos taken at the scene show in particular a broken scaffolding board. The hypothesis is that she would have given way under Hubert’s weight. Destabilized, he would have tipped into a large pipe whose protective cover was not welded. Hubert was performing a routine operation, he was alone and was not wearing a harness. By falling into the sea, he would have bumped into metallic elements, flush with the water. He died of a head trauma.
In front of the investigators, the representative of Perenco disputed any responsibility. This is not the point of view of some of Hubert’s colleagues. One of them, who testifies anonymously, told “Further investigation” a clandestine recording dating from the day after the tragedy. According to him, the speech held by the managers of Perenco, who came from Paris to address the workers, would be an admission of the failures of the oil company.
Three deaths in eight months
“No one asks you to work in dangerous conditions“, affirms the manager in this recording. However, maintains the colleague of Hubert,”these are the Perenco conditions“. According to him, certain sentences uttered by the executive seem to recognize them in part: the scaffolding”certainly could have been better than what it was“; after the drama, it is necessary”move forward, but not by walking next to a rotten plank“… A “double speech“according to the witness: “A rotten board, we replace it, it costs 30 euros! They are not within 30 euros, it’s a company that brews billions.”
“It’s beyond me that with the millions they make, we still do things like that“, also confided Hubert to his partner before his accident. In the videos and the messages which he addressed to him, he testified to working conditions which he considered difficult, and also of a feeling of insecurity.”I had to climb on the railings of the basket in the void, leaning against the pipe on tiptoe, 20 meters high” ; or “They give us 30-minute safety pitches, and next to them, they make us lift things weighing 90 kilos to 5 meters high …”
Hubert is not an isolated case. In Cameroon, two other people died. In eight months (from May 2020 to January 2021), there were three fatal accidents on Perenco platforms: statistics well above the industry average. For its part, the management of the group affirms to respect all the security protocols are always respected, and to have reinforced them after these deaths.
Extract from “Perenco: the low-cost of oil”, a report to see in “Further investigation”, Thursday, October 21, 2021.
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