When 39-year-old Tanesha Fredericks started working at a local subsidiary of Trinidad Oil Company – Centipede Offshore (Guyana) Inc, she had no idea that several months later she would be unable to turn on a tap because of the injuries she would sustain as a result of handling toxic chemicals and cleaning agents without proper gloves.
Centipede Offshore Guyana Inc provides services to ExxonMobil here. The company could not be contacted for comment.
Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday, the mother of two disclosed that she started working as a utilities cleaner with the company in September last year. When she got onboard the offshore rig, she was assigned to do laundry but instead of giving her masks and industrial strength gloves to do her work, they gave her surgical gloves. Having received no prior information or training on what safety measures she should take when washing those types of clothing, she set to work, exposing herself to the chemicals on the clothing.
