Lack of safety at Methanol plants

THE EDITOR: It’s about time someone writes about the “horror stories” in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. I am employed as an engineer in one of the Process Plants on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. I have to inform the public of the exploitation and disregard for the safety of the people employed as labourers by PROMAN (a German Company) and SIS (Super Industrial Services Ltd). Let me explain the scenario: MHTL (Methanol Holdings Trinidad Limited) owns four Methanol plants and one Ammonia plant, and are currently building one methanol (M 5000) and one Ammonia (N 2000) plant. MHTL contracts IPSL (Industrial Plant Services Ltd) to operate the plants. IPSL and MHTL contract PROMAN to build the new plants, who in turn contracts SIS to provide labourers. These labourers are from the poorer end of society.      

During the building of these plants a number of these labourers have been critically injured - meaning they will not be able to work in the near future, to provide for their families. In the month of May 2004, a young man’s foot was amputated when a crane fell on him, while the crane was being dismantled in the N 2000 site. It was reported that the job was being rushed by PROMAN so that the crane could be transferred quickly to the M 5000 site. This same crane is now being erected extremely close to the Atlantic avenue in Point Lisas, where it now threatens not only the workers but passing pedestrians. Even the PROMAN and SIS are contracted for maintenance work during a TAR (Turn A Round) on the plants, their labourers are seriously injured, resulting in LTI (Loss Time Injury). One incident occurred in October 2003 at the Methanol 1 site, when a young man was forced to go into a bin with catalyst, in its pyrophoric state, which resulted in him being burnt badly.

Another incident occurred in February 2004 at the Methanol 2 Plant when two workers collapsed, on separate jobs, because they were ill, but continued to work because of one simple rule in SIS - no work no pay. One worker was on top a reactor and the other was on top a reformer, if they had fallen down from these structures it would have been detrimental. It is a pity that IPSL does not claim these LTIs as their own, and why? - Because it was a contracted labourer and not one of their own employees that got injured.

These people, when they are hired, have no benefits, no insurance and they work temporarily at very low rates. They are exploited and if they are injured they are left out in the cold, so that they and their families are left without a bread winner. When is this going to be an issue — when a worker gets killed? What is PLIPDECO doing with that mammoth crane erected close to the road? Why is the government or EMA not getting involved? Why do IPSL and MHTL continue to hire these companies that have no regard for safety, to build and maintain their plants? Do poor people have rights?

RODNEY JAGSINGH
Concerned Estate Worker