A leading offshore union yesterday called for companies who fail to meet their safety obligations to be named, shamed and then expelled from the North Sea.
The demand follows a "frightening" report by the Health and Safety Executive which said the industry was not doing enough to safeguard the 30,000 people who work offshore.
Key issues highlighted at the inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster in which 167 men died in 1988 are still giving cause for concern.
Speaking at the launch of the KP3 report, Health and Safety Commission Chair Judith Hackitt said "corporate memory" had been "lost" since the disaster.
Graham Tran of Unite said: "It is clear to me there are companies out there which are still risking the lives of our members and the offshore workforce for the sake of a barrel of oil and that is unacceptable." He added: "I don't agree with some of the statements that they are already taking appropriate action. I think more enforcement from HSE is required to get the message across.
"It is clear there are some good players in terms of their approach to safety and this report clearly demonstrates there are too many bad players and I think it is time, if the HSE can, to name and shame these people with a move to having them removed from the North Sea. That might include the government looking at the licence they have to operate in the North Sea. I don't accept that appropriate action is being taken and I don't see any evidence of that. Indeed in certain circumstances we believe it is getting worse."
The report follows a three-year investigation of almost 100 offshore installations which revealed that on nearly 60% the state of plant was below an acceptable level and 16% of them were failing to comply with legislation.
It also highlighted that of 20 deluge systems tested 10 had red or amber traffic lights assigned, meaning they failed to reach the required standard.
Asked whether the lessons of Piper Alpha had been forgotten, she said: "I think the lessons are learned at the time but during the passage of time, the change out of personnel, in many cases a change of ownership of many of these facilities, corporate memory is lost and some of the lessons which ought to have been embedded in the organisation are not."
Oil & Gas UK, the industry's trade association, rejected any claim that safety was getting worse.
Malcolm Webb, the chief executive, said: "Over the last three years, the industry has spent more than £3bn in the area of asset maintenance and we have done much to highlight and shift the focus to process safety and asset integrity management."
He totally rejected any suggestion that the Piper Alpha tragedy had been forgotten or that the industry was in "denial" about safety measures.
Key findings
- On 58% of installations inspected the plant was considered "poor".
- 10 of the 20 deluge systems tested failed to meet standard.
- Concern over key issues identified at the time of Piper Alpha, including Temporary Refuges and air conditioning, heating and ventilation.
- The performance of management systems showed wide variations across the industry and even within the same company.
- Poor understanding of potential impact of degraded, non-safety-critical plant and utility systems on safety-critical elements in the event of a major accident.
- Senior managers not making adequate use of integrity management data and not giving ongoing maintenance enough priority.
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