Anon letters have always been given short shrift by me; however, I’ve just made an exception.
Either the person who penned the note to me about the HSE article we carried in the December edition of Energy is completely stupid; or he, she or it has an agenda of some sort; or they are in fact correct.
We reported: “A huge increase in UK North Sea hydrocarbons releases (HCR) over the past seven months has prompted the head of offshore safety at the Health & Safety Executive to write to operators warning them to get their act together.
“In a toughly worded letter dated November 26, Susan Mackenzie warns: ‘HSE received 79 HCR reports between April and November 1, 2013. This compares with 56 in the same period in 2012.
‘This is a worrying reversal of the positive 49% reduction in the past three years. It makes the industry target to reduce HCRs by a further 50% by April 2016 even more challenging.'”
Anon accuses Energy of “scaremongering” and of being “used” by MacKenzie, alleging that she has lost the industry’s respect.
Anon writes: “You quote hydrocarbon release rates which are at least 50% above what is recorded on the HCR database. This information is available to the public.”
Yes Mr Anon, I am perfectly well aware of that; indeed I referred to said database. And Mr Anon, you will also be aware that there is a lag between updates.
MacKenzie has access to the very latest data and it is this that prompted the letter. Said information will eventually be published.
I have no idea whether or not you were at the Offshore Contractors’ Association annual dinner in November.
If you were there, perhaps you sat at the noisy table, the one that basically refused to hush-up during the MacKenzie address when she laid into the UK offshore industry for its poor track record when it came to the effective management of safety directly related to the handling of hazardous substances… its core business.
In her address she describes Mr Exemplary Offshore Worker who goes on shift in the process area, walking straight past a bucket into which raw hydrocarbons are dripping . . . yes, a bucket . . . and had been doing so for some time.
If my recall is correct, it wasn’t his turn to empty said bucket. Yet he for sure would dutifully hold the hand rails.
Anon says: “Are you allowing yourself to be used by Ms MacKenzie in the political game she is playing with industry; she clearly has lost their respect so resorts to untruths to regain the agenda.”
One of the interesting things about letters such as MacKenzie’s is that they can arrive on a journalist’s desk from a variety of “privileged” sources… classically trade union, the organisation issuing the message, political, someone within a trade body or simply a person in the industry with a conscience who decides to whistleblow.
Now, Mr Anon, I’m not disclosing my source; that’s an unwritten rule that any journalist worth a candle abides by with zeal.
However, wherever the letter came from, one could say that the media are being used every time there is an information leak. And thank heavens there are such disclosures.
Mr Anon, you will doubtless have been grateful for at least one or two because of the resultant impacts; we all have.
Anon goes on to say: “For family members left at home at Christmas time this so-called increase in dangers offshore when added to the helicopter problems just makes things worse.”
Whether Christmas or any other time of the year and regardless of helicopter problems, it is vital that the offshore industry ensures that it really is applying itself diligently to reducing HCRs in the North Sea, or indeed anywhere else it conducts its business.
MacKenzie doesn’t mince her words; nor in his different way did her predecessor in charge of the North Sea for several years, Steve Walker.
Some of you might even remember Tony Barrell; he had the tough job of constructing the HSE’s Offshore Safety Division immediately post publication of the Cullen Report on Piper Alpha.
Barrell didn’t mince his words either and behind his diplomatic exterior was a tough player. Doubtless bosses in some oil companies wished him ill at the time and I’ve little doubt that some of today’s North Sea management cadre will be keen to discredit MacKenzie as they would have criticised Walker.
Mr Anon, perhaps you are such a person?
You close your note with the following: “Please check your facts rather than quote somebody who quotes figures which do not match the public information and who doesn’t appear to have a clue about the reasons.”
I did indeed check the publicly available HSE data as per Oil & Gas UK’s website; and you will know that covers (as of December 26) only Q1 and Q2 so far this year.
As I indicate above, MacKenzie will have access to ALL the data as it is reported real-time. I would suggest from what I have learned about the lady, she is nobody’s fool and has a tough job to do.
And if that means getting more direct and tougher than her predecessors have dared this far then good on the lady.
So Mr Anon, let’s assume you work in the North Sea industry in some capacity.
If you’re on the shop floor, then open your eyes and ears; if you are a middle manager being pressured by your top boss to cut corners, shop said person; or if you are said top boss, then you should be found out and fired on the spot.
Or maybe you’re just an armchair critic; a know-all.
However, if you possess data that incontrovertibly demonstrates that MacKenzie is resorting to “untruths”, then I’m challenging you to disclose it to Energy properly.
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