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Big oil companies across the world have failed to learn the lessons of Piper Alpha
Troy Carter lays a wreath in memory of those who died in the Piper Alpha disaster

THE nightmare of July 6 1988 is etched into minds across all of Aberdeen. The explosion on the Piper Alpha oil platform took the lives of 167 offshore workers and rescue servicemen.

But when Australian oil worker Troy Carter visited the memorial to the dead earlier this month, he was warning that it could still take more. Because, he argued, big oil companies across the world have failed to learn the lessons of the Scottish tragedy.

Carter’s story is extraordinary. He has now spent almost 500 days on strike in a David and Goliath struggle with one of the world’s largest oil firms.

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