Spotlight on safety
7 Sep 2010
As a UK House of Commons investigation into the lessons to be learned from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill begins today, the spotlight is firmly upon safety in the offshore industry.
On Monday, The Guardian newspaper reported on allegations in a report by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) against Transocean, a US rig owner, in relation to operations in the North Sea. Transocean was, of course, the rig owner involved in BP’s Gulf of Mexico spill.
The HSE report, as quoted by The Guardian, said: ‘The company has not considered the human contribution to safety in a structured and systematic manner.’ The report makes other allegations concerning a culture of blame and intolerance, and bullying and harassment that were ‘causing some individuals to exhibit symptoms of work-related stress, with potential safety implications’.
Transocean responded with a statement that said: ‘The HSE report confirmed that Transocean has demonstrated a commitment to fostering an organisational culture based on trust and respect that improves our safety and performance records. Third-party assessments such as those conducted by HSE and Lloyd’s Register are a key part of the company’s philosophy of continuous review and improvement.’
It will be interesting in this regard to assess how rigorous the House of Commons investigation is in light of the HSE’s anxieties in relation to offshore safety.
The HSE released safety statistics in relation to the offshore industry more generally on 24 August. These showed that the combined fatal and major injury rate almost doubled to 192 per 100,000 workers in 2009-10, compared with 106 in 2008-09 and 156 in 2007-08.
Steve Walker, head of HSE’s offshore division, said: ‘The industry has shown it can do better and it must do in future. I am particularly disappointed, and concerned, that major and significant hydrocarbon releases are up by more than a third on last year. This is a key indicator of how well the offshore industry is managing its major accident potential, and it really must up its game to identify and rectify the root causes of such events.’
Lyndon White
Editor, Processingtalk
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