The crucial training that helped save the lives of 18 people on board the Super Puma helicopter which ditched in the North Sea was hailed last night as the best in the world.
The well-practised escape techniques – taught in Aberdeen by firms such as Petrofac Training and Falck Nutec – are delivered in the hope they will never be needed. But, as proved this week, the worst-case scenario is always possible in an area as inhospitable as the North Sea.
All personnel travelling offshore are required to complete a three-day basic survival course before flying to the rigs. It includes sea survival, working in smoke conditions, and practical training in emergency helicopter ditching and escape.
Oil workers learn how to use breathing equipment and carry out in-flight emergency procedures.
By law, they must complete a refresher course every four years before they are allowed back offshore.
The course was updated just two years ago to include extra information about escaping from downed helicopters.
It is also a legal requirement for all passengers to view a briefing about the aircraft they will be travelling on before takeoff.
Aberdeen-firm Viscom produces all the briefings used by Bond Offshore Helicopters, Bristow Helicopters and CHC Scotia.
The briefing is viewed by all passengers on the Bond Super Puma and would have been seen by the personnel on board Wednesday’s flight.
The briefings include a combination of footage filmed on the actual types of aircraft used and 3D animated graphics that illustrate exits and the position of liferafts.
Viscom general manager Bruce Milne stressed the importance of producing an accurate briefing specific to individual craft. He said: “We never lose sight of the fact this is usually the last piece of safety advice passengers are exposed to before boarding a helicopter, so we continually strive to ensure that the information is precise, easily understood and remains with the viewer, so they can remember how to act in an emergency situation.”
David Doig, chief executive of oil and gas academy Opito, which sets emergency resp-onse standards for the offshore industry, said the fact that everyone survived the latest incident showed the vital role played by training. He said: “All employers must be commended for their commitment to training their people for what they hope will never happen. The Opito standards of training in the UK Continental Shelf are world leaders and have been adopted in 26 countries.”
Industry body Oil and Gas UK’s health, safety and environment director, Chris Allen, said: “The extensive training undertaken by offshore workers to enable them to escape safely from a ditched helicopter was successfully put into practice.”
The Chinook helicopter crash in the North Sea that killed 45 men happened in 1986, not in 1989 as reported in some editions yesterday.