Offshore safety around the world could be improved significantly and the industry could save millions of pounds if safety training was standardised, skill body Opito said yesterday.
It is introducing Mist (minimum industry safety training) to the global oil and gas industry at the OTC oil show in Houston, after a successful UK launch just over a year ago. About 35,000 people have already undergone this training.
Basic safety knowledge and awareness offshore is said to remain a worrying concern across the worldwide industry. Driven by the UK industry’s commitment to continually improve safety, Mist has been developed by Opito, employers and the offshore workforce to improve efficiency and standardise safety training across the UK continental shelf (UKCS).
David Doig, chief executive of Portlethen-based Opito Group, said: “Every offshore worker has the absolute right to expect that their fellow workers are trained to the same standard.
“Every employer should ask themselves if they do enough to ensure the safety of their employees, and around the world more and more employers are adopting Opito standards because they see them as the best. The Piper Alpha tragedy drove significant change in the North Sea and Opito standards were derived from that.”
Mr Doig said the ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico would be fully investigated, adding: “If there are any lessons to be learnt, the industry will demand and drive the necessary changes.”
He said the delivery and content of basic safety training varied dramatically from region to region and lacked consistency across the industry, adding: “Imagine the real step-change we would see if every worker offshore was trained to same high standards?
“Adopting common standards and engaging the essential support to apply them uniformly across the industry is a challenge, but Opito is up for it and believes the industry must be too. There is a huge prize to be won if the industry accepts the challenge and really wants to do something about safety.
“The Opito Bosiet (basic offshore safety induction and emergency training) standard is all about travelling to work safely and responding effectively to alarms.
“Mist is all about working safely in the workplace when you get there.”
Opito is aiming to roll out the concept of Mist across its existing networks in 30 countries.
The Mist standard ensures that trainees have the necessary safety awareness and training to avoid risk and ultimately incidents. It covers nine basic safety elements, including the core topics of risk assessment and permit to work, with new key safety awareness centred on mechanical lifting and platform integrity.
Initial Mist training is delivered over two days, however, every offshore worker in the UKCS is also undergoing refresher training which is carried out over the internet, saving industry and employers’ time and eliminating travel costs.
