News / Gas plant worker found dead in Lerwick
A SIXTY year old man who had been working on the construction site for Total’s gas plant was found dead in Lerwick on Monday evening, police have confirmed.
A Police Scotland spokesman said the force was alerted to the sudden death, which occurred when the man was off duty, in the Lerwick Harbour area shortly after 9.30pm.
The death is being treated as “unexplained” but there are “not thought to be any suspicious circumstances at this time”, police said. A report is being prepared for the procurator fiscal.
The man had been living on the accommodation vessel Ocean Endeavour, berthed at the town’s Victoria Pier, but he was not on board the ship when he died.
A spokeswoman for the gas plant’s main contractor Petrofac said the man had been working for one of its subcontractors.
She said: “The health and safety of our workforce is of paramount importance to us. Our sympathies are with the deceased’s family and we will support our subcontractor and the authorities in their investigation into this.”
The spokeswoman added that construction work had been stood down for the day – meaning the 2,000-strong workforce would not be on site.
Police chief inspector Eddie Graham said that, as a result of the workforce being given the day off, officers were carrying out additional patrols including regular checks at various pubs.
It comes only days after Petrofac issued a public apology to the Shetland community for the drunken behaviour of some of its workers.
Construction staff were given the day off 10 days ago as a mark of respect following the sudden death of another colleague.
A series of incidents then took place of the streets of Lerwick, resulting in police being inundated with complaints from local pubs, shops, cafes and restaurants about the rowdy behaviour.
It is understood Petrofac workers were warned on Tuesday that they must abide by employees’ code of conduct and behave themselves accordingly.
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