Some offshore oil workers will quit after chopper crash shock: union leader

Some of the staff working at Hibernia and other offshore oil platforms may 'kick out early' because of unease over last week's fatal helicopter crash, a union leader says.(CBC)

Some of the people crewing platforms in Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry will likely leave the business because of anxiety over last week's helicopter crash, a union official said Monday.

Sheldon Peddle, who works on the Hibernia platform and is president of Local 2121 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union, said the Cougar Helicopters crash —which killed 17 of 18 aboard, most of them headed to Hibernia and the nearby White Rose field — has already had a deep impact in the local industry.

"There's people that will make a permanent decision on this and probably won't return offshore, and there's other people that right now are pretty shook up about the whole aspect of flying back and forth [to] St. John's," Peddle said.

Cougar Helicopters has suspended its flights to and from the platforms working in the three oilfields on the Grand Banks, all southeast of St. John's. For now, supply vessels will be transporting crews during shift changes.

The choppers, which have been common sights in the St. John's area, have been the preferred mode of travel for workers, as a routine flight often lasts about 75 minutes. By contrast, a vessel can take as long as 16 hours to make the same journey, Peddle said.

As well, he said, some workers are susceptible to seasickness on the supply vessels. Although they work offshore, the platforms provide stable working environments, even more than 300 kilometres from the nearest community.

'That's a scary thought'

Peddle said he knows one oil-industry worker has decided to never again work offshore, although his job is largely based onshore and he can carry out his work accordingly.

For other workers, he said, the crash of the helicopter, a Sikorsky S-92, has meant some unsettling thinking.

"It's one of the more remote things that can happen on a helicopter ... This type of helicopter is supposed to be one of the most advanced in the world, with all kinds of monitoring systems," he said.

"It is really sobering to think that an event can happen and eight minutes later [you have] crashed into the ocean — for me, that's a scary thought," he said.

"We have a fairly mature workforce offshore, a lot of guys in their late 40s and in their 50s, [and] this is the kind of thing that is probably going to tip them over the edge and say, 'You know what? I'm done with this,' " he said.

Peddle said many older workers will be looking at opportunities on large-scale projects that are on the province's horizon, including construction of the platform that will work at Hebron, which will become the province's fourth field to go into production. Others may look for other industrial transfers.

"These guys are probably going to kick out early," he said.