Offshore deaths rise due to 'cost-cutting'

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) demanded urgent improvements in safety after revealing that 17 deaths and 50 major injuries occurred in the sector over 12 months.

HSE said the figures were a "stark reminder" of the hazards involved in the sector.

The combined fatal and major injury rate almost doubled, coupled with a "marked rise" in the number of significant hydrocarbon releases regarded as potential precursors to a major incident.

HSE also reported a fall in the number of minor injuries, maintaining a downward trend in recent years.

Head of HSE's offshore division Steve Walker said: "Although the overall numbers of injury and dangerous occurrences are comparatively low, considering a workforce of almost 27,000 and the numbers of rigs and the continuous operations undertaken, this does not excuse the fact that the fatal and major injury rate has almost doubled."

Mr Walker also expressed concern that major and significant hydrocarbon releases had increased by more than a third.

He said the industry "must up its game to identify and rectify the root causes of such events."

RMT offshore energy branch representative Jake Molloy said: "These incidents are down to cost-cutting. We had prices at $40 (£26) a barrel last year and there was a typical knee-jerk reaction from management.

"Cuts have been made across the board. That is probably also the key factor in the increase in hydrocarbon releases. We had 83 significant gas releases, each of which was approximately equivalent to the Piper-Alpha disaster in size."

Mr Molloy had no doubt that had safety warnings been heeded at least some of the incidents could have been prevented.

"We believe that safety representatives and the safety committee system needs to be bolstered to provide greater empowerment for reps to intervene, better education and training and greater union involvement," he said.

Hazards campaign spokeswoman Hilda Palmer said: "The increase in major injuries and the increase in hydrocarbon releases is extremely worrying. As we have seen in the BP Deepwater rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the consequences of safety breaches in the oil industry can be horrific, especially when earlier warning events are not properly acted upon."