Bears - Put on your "big boy" pants - or get out the industry!
Offshore oil workers who expressed concerns about flying were told to put on their “big boy pants” or give up working in the industry days before a helicopter left their platform and crashed with the loss of four lives.
The blunt advice was given to workers on the Borgsten Dolphin rig on August 8 during a briefing that was meant to reassure them about the safety of the Super Puma EC225 aircraft, which was allowed to return to service two weeks ago. The briefing was delivered by officials from the oil firm Total and the helicopter operator CHC, whose aircraft crashed last week.
A recording of the event, featuring CHC’s chief pilot Will Hanekom, and managers from Total, including the head of logistics Christophe Barber, reveals that one worker asked what the oil company would do if workers refused to board an aircraft.
According to the Press and Journal newspaper, a CHC representative said: "I have to say, how else are we going to get there? It is what we do. At some point we have to put our big boy pants on and say either 'we believe', either what I am telling you is the truth and I'm willing to sit in the front and risk my family and everything that I have got. If you don't, well, I wouldn't force any of my pilots to fly if they didn't want to."
During the same conversation an official from Total told workers: "I am hoping we won't get there. I hope we get to the point where we have information so you say, 'I understand there was a problem. But I understand that the gearbox is now safe'."
The worker said: "Every man I have spoken to says they don't want to get on one."
Helicopter crash: workers told to put 'big boy pants' on after expressing safety fears - Telegraph