Family looking for answers in death of man at drilling site

Calgary worker killed during pressure test on fracking rig near Consort

CALGARY Family members are demanding answers after a 36-yearold father of two died at a central Alberta drilling site.

Charles Oba was killed early Thursday near Consort when he was struck in the head by a section of pipe while conducting a pressure test on a hydraulic fracturing rig, said a release from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety.

Speaking to Postmedia on Friday, Oba’s elder brother, Scott, wants to know how such an accident could have happened.

“We’re kind of surprised; we’re not talking about a Third World country,” he said. “How can they have a drilling accident in Canada?”

Oba said he and his brother have seen their share of industrial accidents in their home country of Nigeria due to poor safety standards.

The site, about 200 km northeast of Calgary, is operated by Calgary’s Karve Energy Inc. Oba was employed by Element Technical Services, a Calgary-based company specializing in hydraulic fracturing and pressure pumping services.

Oba said his brother had been employed by Element for about a year, and had lived in Calgary for the past five years after moving to the city from Nova Scotia.

He leaves behind a wife and two sons.

“Those two boys are devastated,” Oba’s brother said.

Calls to Oba’s employer weren’t returned. The accident is being investigated by provincial occupational health and safety inspectors.

There were five confirmed workplace fatalities in Alberta in the first half of 2017, a number that may be conservative due to the length of time it takes to thoroughly investigate workplace deaths. There were 12 reported deaths in the same period last year.