01:10 pm, Monday 28 May, 2012

Australian projects’ safety standards are below world standards due to cultural tolerance of risk, says a foreign engineering contractor.

Brian Kelly, Kentz country manager said that lost-time injury (LTI) rates in the country were worse than in other countries. The West Australian reports that Mr Kelly said while safety performance was a common topic of business discussions, locals would be mistaken if they believed standards were high.

“The main thing we find in Australia is there’s a high tolerance for risk,” says Mr Kelly. It’s across the board at the moment. It’s a cultural thing.”

According to Mr Kelly, he had been a part of projects in the Middle East and South-East Asia which achieved millions of man hours without an LTI.

Kentz is an engineering solutions business operating in 29 countries across the globe. It provides specialist Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) services, Construction, and Technical support services.

A safety conference will be hosted by Kentz chief executive Christian Brown in Perth on Wednesday, 20 May. Senior executives from Woodside, Chevron, Rio Tinto, Exxon Mobil, Thiess and Clough will be speaking for this activity.

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