Oil & Gas UK News: Health & Safety and Supply Chain CoP

Trade body Oil & Gas UK have released two new reports.

The first is the annual Oil & Gas UK Health and Safety Report 2014 which covers:

  1. A detailed summary of the UK offshore oil and gas industry’s safety performance
  2. An overview of the safety-related projects being carried out across the industry
  3. An explanation of how the safety agenda is being effectively managed by Oil & Gas UK and its members

As well as discussing the events to mark the 25th Anniversary of Piper Alpha and the European Union (EU) Directive on offshore safety, the report says the following on helicopter safety:

Aviation matters, again, dominated the industry’s safety agenda in 2013. The year started with the continued suspension of EC225 helicopter flight operations following the ditchings on the UK Continental Shelf in 2012. Flights began to be reinstated during quarter four 2013 following forensically detailed investigation and remedial work to provide the necessary safety assurances.

However, on 23 August 2013, a Eurocopter Super Puma L2 crashed on approach to Sumburgh Airport with the tragic loss of four lives. That incident led to an initial, voluntary, temporary suspension of all Super Puma helicopter flights until it became clear that there had not been a technical failure. The Air Accident Investigation Branch’s inquiry into this event is still ongoing.

This fatal accident, combined with other recent incidents, prompted reviews of UK offshore aviation safety by various bodies, including the Helicopter Safety Steering Group, the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA published its report CAP 1145 in February 2014, setting out a number of recommendations and required actions designed to improve offshore helicopter transportation safety. Many of the actions will have far-reaching implications for the industry and are now the subject of significant attention and effort to ensure compliance.

This free report is available here: http://www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/publications/viewpub.cfm?frmPubID=823

Oil & Gas UK monitors progress regarding implementation of the Supply Chain Code of Practice on an annual basis by means of a compliance survey.  This free survey is available here: http://www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/publications/viewpub.cfm?frmPubID=821

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