Energy giant committed to improving site safety
Mark Little, CEO of Suncor, has described a recent worker fatality and two other incidents which happened in December 2021 as “unacceptable” and says that the company is committed to doing more to keep its workers safe.
Earlier in January, one worker was killed and two others injured in a vehicle collision at the company’s Base Plant Mine near Fort McMurray, Alta.
Reuters reports that two Suncor oil sands sites were plagued with operational problems last month, resulting in lower crude production.
Suncor also released more details on Tuesday about the Jan. 6 fatality in which one heavy haul truck rear-ended another while both were driving up a mine haul ramp.
The two workers who were rear-ended sufferer minor injuries. Tragically, the driver of the other truck died. The latter was a contract worker employed by North American Construction Group Ltd.
This is the fourth fatality at a Suncor facility since late 2020.
Says Little in a news release: “I am deeply disappointed by these events and I am committed to implementing corrective actions, continuing to strengthen our processes and accountability, and to improving Suncor's performance.”
On Tuesday, Suncor shared that the aforementioned operational incidents had resulted in a production loss of about 195,000 barrels per day in the last half of December.
Both sites have since returned to normal production levels.
