Image: Suncor
(Bloomberg) – The death of a worker at a Suncor Energy Inc. site in Canada marked the first fatality for the oil sands company since a former chief executive stepped down in 2022 after a spate of deadly incidents.
Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety is investigating the Jan. 13 fatality near the oil town of Fort McMurray, the agency said Thursday. The worker died operating equipment that became submerged in muskeg.
As of late Wednesday, the individual was unaccounted and the company said the incident may have resulted from a medical event. Suncor said Thursday that search and recovery efforts continue.
The death marks the first at a Suncor site since 2022. At that time, a spate of fatalities had sparked calls for a major shakeup of the company, with activist Elliott Investment Management LP leading the campaign.
The demand resulted in then-CEO Mark Little stepping down. He was replaced by Rich Kruger, the former head of Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Canadian unit Imperial Oil Ltd.
