Two ONGC employee bodies in separate letters claimed that the infection had spread either due to lack of proper guidelines or because the company had not adhered to rules
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) temporarily ceased operations at two drilling rigs after 54 offshore employees had tested positive for COVID-19 and one had died.
"To ensure safety of employees, work at two rigs has been temporarily suspended. Remaining 34 rigs are operating offshore with all COVID-19 safety precautions," the company said in a statement to The Economic Times.
The company added that production levels are being maintained, the report said.
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Two ONGC employee bodies in separate letters claimed that the infection had spread either due to lack of proper guidelines or because the company had not adhered to rules, the report said.
ONGC has denied the charge, the report said.
"Detailed SOPs and Dos & Don'ts to contain the spread of COVID-19 at all offshore and onshore installations and other work places including office & residential complexes were issued in April," ONGC said.
Only employees who had been tested negative for COVID-19 were sent to offshore locations, the company said.
The first case of COVID-19 among ONGC's employees was reported on May 17 after an employee working at the Sagar Jyoti rig tested positive.
After that, 25 employees of Sagar Jyoti and 29 employees of Sagar Kiran, both rigs in the western offshore, as per a letter by Association of Scientific and Technical Officers (ASTO) of ONGC.
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