The safety review of UK North Sea commercial helicopter operations by the UK Civil Aviation Authority and Norway CAA, started in October last year and from which emerged a stack of actions and recommendations, has certainly shaken the offshore industry . . . workers and companies alike.
Even though they know they should, in a relatively short time, know that they will be travelling in safer and more rigorously managed transportation, offshore personnel fear the impact on their jobs.
This is because the CAA has set an aggressive timescale for some of the measures with the first deadline set for June 1.
It means that passenger loadings of aircraft will be severely restricted and this is compounded by the limited pool of machines. In turn, this could seriously hamper safety critical and oil and gas production critical maintenance and overhauls offshore.
As a result of last year’s EC225 groundings, there remains a huge 2013 backlog to be cleared. Add the further restrictions as a result of the new CAA measures and that backlog is destined to compound with the 2014, possibly leading to serious fall-out.
It was on February 20 that the CAA published its 293-page CAT 1145 report which lists 61 actions and recommendations addressing accident prevention and mitigating consequences after a ditching or survivable crash.
In fairness to the CAA, most of the recommendations are acknowledged as making sense.
It means offshore workers will be able to aboard helicopters and feel safer than at any time in the past.
But the prescriptive manner of the CAA versus the goal-setting consultative approach of the counterpart Health and Safety Executive has gone down like a lead balloon.
There is the view that what the CAA has done is long overdue. Ask respected North Sea trade union leader Jake Molloy. He is clear that the regulator’s 61 measures are desirable (see page 6).
The anger is because of the timescales set for the 10 actions . . . diktats.
As has been widely reported, these include:
Mandating the use of emergency breathing apparatus (EBR) that has never been used in the North Sea.
The introduction of a system that ensures that aircraft carry only people who can fit through their windows in the event of a ditching . . . body shape and size.
Seating restrictions during the transition period for the introduction of Category A EBR equipment of which none other than prototypes and military equivalents exist in the UK and, if they are ever fitted, aircraft side flotation bags. The seating restrictions alone will reduce capacity by 30-40%, we are advised.
And forbidding the use of inside seating rows unless passengers are equipped with the new EBR (to Category A standard) of which only prototypes for offshore application and military use systems currently exist in the UK, or the aircraft are fitted with side flotation bags, and there are none.
Arguably, it is these three measures that have received the most attention from the workforce, and this was certainly the case at the Step Change “Helicopter Safety – What You Need to Know” seminar staged in Aberdeen on April 24.
It is hardly surprising given the timescale and the fact that it affects many thousands of individuals.
Having launched and conducted the review without approaching the oil and gas industry, the CAA is now in consultation, so said Mark Swan, who is in charge of Aviation Safety at thisregulator.
Swan told a packed room at the Step Change session that the agency really is in listening mode, moreover he was going on to a meeting with the North Sea leadership the same day in London for talks.
He said: “We all want to work with colleagues here to make a big step change in the safety of the aviation system . . . and it is a system and not just about helicopters.
“It is not a bus service, it is fragile in some areas, it’s very taut on others.”
Swan admitted that it was last year’s Sumburgh incident that had finally “galvanised” the CAA into action.
He said too that the authority recognised the need to work with the offshore industry, even though there had been zero consultation prior to the CAT 1145 report being published.
“It was a very tight timescale but I was very keen that we got something out there quickly because it was necessary. It was pointed out that we didn’t put the report out to consultation, which is normal regulatory practice,” said Swan.
“We didn’t do this because these were safety critical recommendations that we wanted to get out there. My contention is that we’re now in consultation.
“We want to get the right people in the room and work with you guys to get the best result we possibly can.”
Swan pledged to work with the industry’s relevant groups, including the HSSG (Helicopter Safety Steering Group) to deliver “optimum” safety benefits.
He talked of a full programme of work and consultation stretching across two years, looking at every aspect of the North Sea helicopter-based transportation system, in a bid to “get folk from A to B in a safe and effective manner”.
He said too: “As the guardians of (air) safety for the UK, if we thought for one minute that any of those helicopter operations were inherently unsafe, I promise you they would be grounded right here and now.
“That is not the case. We would have no hesitation in putting folk on the ground if we weren’t happy with the way these operations are running. This (enquiry and report) is about alleviating risks wherever we can so they don’t matter in the first place.”
In a Q&A session on specifics including the new breathing apparatus, Swan told Energy that, even though the kit to be imposed had not been certified, that would be a quick process and that no one need worry.
However, it transpired at one of the day’s break-out sessions that, at the earliest, a batch of around 700 breathing apparatus sets could become available in August. The total number required to service daily commuting operations for the UK sector is 2,800.
Then every offshore worker will have to be trained to use the system, which is totally different to the air pocket proactively adopted by the industry around the late 1990s as it is based around a bottle of compressed air and a simplified demand valve (divers use these routinely). Training takes time and many think the CAA’s timetable for compliance is too tight.
There is only one place in the world where this type of equipment is used for offshore commuting . . . Eastern Canada. However, the kit used is simpler than the one being developed for the UK by Survitec, which had examples of the new kit at the Step Change session.
Swan assured that there had been communication between the UK CAA and its counterpart in Canada regarding the use of compressed air EBR kit.
It is important to include an observation from Chris Allen of Petrofac and who is the Step Change rep on the Offshore Safety Helicopter Action Group for CAA.
He told Energy that a dialogue between the sides had started.
“There is clear alignment that everybody wants to do the best thing for safety,” he said. “With one or two exceptions, the bulk of the recommendations are accepted; there is no push-back on what’s being required.
“The concern that the industry expresses is that the aggressive times schedule, particularly the June 1 deadline may have an impact on safety critical work in the North Sea itself.”
The meeting between the CAA and OGUK that same day was described to Energy as “constructive”.
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