West Australian worker is killed at Woodside Energy’s North Rankin Complex gas platform

A contractor has died in a workplace incident at a gas rig off the coast of Western Australia.

The worker at Woodside Energy’s North Rankin Complex gas platform, about 135km northwest of Karratha, died at around 12pm AWST on Friday.

All other employees on the platform are safe, Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill confirmed.

Woodside is working with WA Police and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Emergency Authority to understand what went wrong.

Counselling has been offered to employees and contractors within the company and Senior Woodside executives have begun travelling to Karratha.

‘This is a very sad day for the extended Woodside family and I offer my deepest sympathy to our colleague’s family, friends and workmates,’ Ms O’Neill said.

‘Any loss of life is heartbreaking,’ 

An outpouring of condolences for those close to the contractor has been expressed by the entire gas industry, Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) chief executive Samantha McCulloch said

‘This is a shock and a tragedy for our industry, which prioritises workplace health and safety,’ she said in a statement.

‘APPEA and its membership offers its sympathies to all those impacted by this loss.’

The worker is believed to have been carrying out a high-risk task on the outside of the platform at the time, The West Australian reported.

In Woodside’s annual report, the company said delivering energy safely was their ‘top priority’.

Safety records had dropped in 2021 and 2022, the company had said.

‘Our personal safety outcomes in 2022 failed to improve against the disappointing result in 2021. It is imperative we improve this in 2023.’