The Scottish Secretary has said it would be “perverse” to improve offshore helicopter safety at the expense of other areas of the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Alistair Carmichael said he understood concerns raised this week that strict new regulations that are due to come into force in June could backfire and endanger workers.
The MP for Orkney and Shetland said the response from industry body Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) must be considered “very carefully” by the UK Government, the Health and Safety Executive and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
OGUK has warned that the tight timetable for the reforms means essential maintenance work on offshore platforms and pipelines may be shelved – raising the likelihood of “serious incidents” such as leaks.
The body, which submitted evidence to Westminster’s transport select committee, also said job-security concerns among staff – particularly overweight workers, who could be banned from flying under the rules – would also “divert attention from essential safety activities”.
Fears were also raised that the planned changes would lead to an overall rise in the number of offshore helicopter flights, increasing the risk of accidents.
Mr Carmichael said: “I can see the concerns that have been raised by Oil and Gas UK – this is a paper we will want to take on and consider very carefully.
“Whether it is helicopter safety or safety of the installations or any of the other infrastructure, we take all these considerations very, very seriously.
“There is a balance to be struck here between on the one hand promoting the interests of helicopter safety with the concerns that have been raised.
“We shouldn’t allow the changes to helicopter safety to be delayed if that is at all possible but it would be perverse if that was at the expense of other safety considerations in the North Sea.”
From June 1, passengers will only fly offshore if specialist emergency breathing equipment and helicopter flotation systems are in place.
If those measures were not in place, only window seats – close to emergency exits – could be occupied.
A CAA spokesman said it believed the safety recommendations were “realistic and achievable.”
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