Tragic Inpex worker Carl Delaney remembered as a ‘top man’ and a ‘brilliant guy’

VIDEO: The man killed while working on the $50 billion Inpex project near Darwin has been remembered as a loving father, “top man” and “brilliant guy”. Carl Delaney died when he fell from scaffolding into an insulation dust-like substance and disappeared below the surface

THE man killed while working on the $50 billion Inpex project near Darwin has been remembered as a loving father, “top man” and “brilliant guy”.

Carl Delaney, 56, who worked for subcontractor Whittens, died when he fell from scaffolding into an insulation dust-like substance and disappeared below the surface.

Carl Delaney was killed at the Inpex site. Picture: Facebook

It is understood he was wearing a harness at the time but it is not clear whether the harness broke or was attached to anything.

Mr Delaney’s son, Dominic, posted on Facebook last night, lamenting the loss of his father.

“Love you Dad, will miss you more than words can ever describe,” he said.

In response to his post, friends remembered Carl as a “brilliant guy” and “top man”.

It is understood Mr Delaney and his wife Terry lived in Darwin. The family is originally from the UK.

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Inpex workers yesterday said it was only a matter of time before a fatality occurred on the project.

According to workers who contacted the NT News and posted on social media, safety standards had dropped “massively” since works commenced on the Bladin Point construction site in 2012.

One worker, who has worked on the project for a number of years, said he had seen the importance of safety pushed to the side.

Inpex Darwin general manager Sean Kildare addresses the media on Thursday. Picture: Justin Kennedy

“When the project started, the motto was you could stop the job if something wasn’t right,” the worker said.

“That has slowly declined to the point where no one wants to speak up. If you don’t work your arse off, you’re pushed to the side and the train just keeps on going.

“Now, I never feel 100 per cent safe going to work.”

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Another worker said everyone on site “knew it was only a matter of time” before a fatal accident occurred.

“There seems to be a lot of push coming from above and the direction from JKC is pretty poor,” the worker said.

“There have been incidents recently when people fell off scaffolding – this is just a continuation.

The larger of the cryogenic storage tanks at Inpex's Ichthys LNG Project at Bladin Point. Picture: Michael Franchi

“We all knew that eventually the holes were going to line up and now they have.”

Last week, the NT News revealed a man slipped and fell through scaffolding. In that instance, the man was grabbed by workmates after a railing gave way on one of the cryogenic tanks.

He was not wearing a harness at the time. Harnesses are not required when railings are in place.

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Another worker said the number of injuries the public heard about on-site was only about 5 per cent of all injuries at the project.

Inpex Darwin general manager Sean Kildare said workers arrived at the site about 6am yesterday and were immediately called into briefings.

“There will be no construction activity on site (Thursday) but the contractors will be working with their relevant employers as to when they return to work,” Mr Kildare said yesterday.

Inpex workers are bussed back to their work camp after the death of their co-worker. Picture: Michael Franchi

However, workers have said they were given the option to work and told if they took the day off out of respect for the deceased it would have to be from their annual or sick leave, or would be unpaid.

Now, workers are unclear as to whether they will be paid for the day or not.

“Everyone was pretty disgusted when they told us that,” one worker said.

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“It’s not about whether we get paid or not – it’s about them officially closing the site down, which is recognising that this guy has been killed.”

When the NT News approached an Inpex spokeswoman yesterday afternoon, she said staff were given the choice to leave.

This meant the site was not officially shut down.

The spokeswoman did confirm no construction work was undertaken last night.

NT Worksafe is investigating the death and will prepare a report for the coroner.