Offshore

Following the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico, the European Commission (EC) said that the “divergent and fragmented regulatory framework applying to the safety of offshore oil and gas operations in Europe, along with current industry safety practices did not provide adequate assurance that risks from offshore accidents were minimised” throughout Europe.

In June 2013, it published the Offshore Directive which aims to reduce as far as possible the occurrence of major accidents related to offshore oil and gas operations and to limit their consequences. The HSE says that although the directive is broadly based on the UK’s current offshore safety regime, legislation has been updated to fully implement the Directive. It implemented the majority of the health and safety requirements in the Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (safety Case etc.) Regulations 2015. The new regulations came into force on 19 July 2015.

The Directive also required the creation of an offshore competent authority and the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) established the Offshore Safety Directive Regulator (OSDR) see: www.hse.gov.uk/osdr

The new safety rules for offshore helicopter flights came into force in September 2014 and January 2015. Since September 2014, passengers have only been allowed to fly if they are seated next to a push-out window exit. An improved emergency breathing system became mandatory from January 2015.

However, coalition government ministers rejected calls for an independent public inquiry into helicopter safety following a series of offshore “ditching” incidents and deaths. The Transport Select Committee had demanded a full and independent public inquiry “to investigate commercial pressures on helicopter safety in the North Sea operating environment.”

However, the Department for Transport, responding to the select committee, stated in October 2014: “Neither the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), industry nor government has seen any evidence to suggest safety is being compromised as a result of commercial pressure.”

The aviation BALPA and maritime RMT unions said they would continue to press for a full public inquiry.