Australian union files safety complaint against Japan's Inpex

June 8 (Reuters) - Offshore Alliance said on Monday that it had filed a complaint against Japan's Inpex with Australia's offshore energy regulator, alleging that the company used unqualified workers to operate critical equipment at its Ichthys LNG facilities.

Offshore Alliance, made up of the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Workers' Union, filed the complaint with the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).

"INPEX have been using non-competent personnel to monitor the CCR (central control room) panel during periods of Protected Industrial Action on their CPF and FPSO facilities," Offshore Alliance said in a Facebook post.

"The health and safety of our members is being put at risk by INPEX's deliberate acts of gross negligence and they must be held to account," it added.

The union said that NOPSEMA had informed it that it would investigate the matter.

NOPSEMA and Inpex did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Central Processing Facility (CPF) and Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) are key operations in an offshore-supported LNG plant, according to Inpex's website.

The complaint comes as the union earlier in the day said that workers at the Ichthys facilities would escalate a strike after talks with the Japanese operator failed to progress.

Ichthys accounts for about 10% of LNG supply from Australia, the world's second-largest LNG exporter.

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee; Editing by Sonia Cheema)