One of the bosses of the flagship safety initiative for the UK oil and gas industry said yesterday there was still some way to go before matching the world’s best performing countries.
Gordon Ballard, joint chairman of Step Change in Safety, told nearly 400 people at an Oil and Gas UK breakfast in Aberdeen that, since it started in 1997, the initiative had made a hugely significant contribution to the safety of the workforce, but now stood at a crossroads.
He added: “We recognise that now we must take the next step on our journey if we are to realise our vision of making the UK the safest place to work in the worldwide oil and gas industry.”
Mr Ballard, also chairman of Schlumberger UK, said that, in the past two years, there had been no fatalities on offshore installation in UK waters, but this good news was tempered by the tragic loss of 16 lives in aviation and one in marine-related operations earlier this year.
“These tragic deaths are a stark reminder of the hazards faced by our workforce.”
Mr Ballard said safety performance had been improving since 1997, but “we still have some way to go before our safety performance matches the best performing countries in the world”.
The other Step Change chairman, John Forrest, told the event in the Beach Ballroom about what could be done to unlock better industry safety performance.
This included modifying the composition of the Step Change leadership team so both the shop-floor and site supervisory and management levels were represented directly. He added: “Not that this would supplement the very constructive involvement of the trade unions that we already enjoy, as opposed to replacing it.”
Mr Forrest, who is also Talisman’s UK country manager, said certain industry sectors were not as well represented as they could be on the leadership team, adding: “For example, the aviation sector does not have a seat on the leadership team, yet is a key sector when it comes to safety, as the tragic accident in April this year represented.
“Similarly, we need to ensure the southern North Sea and also onshore worksites have a voice and influence on safety matters.”
John Taylor, regional officer for offshore workers’ union Unite, said the only way safety offshore was going to improve was through workforce involvement.
He said the focus of Step Change had to change from just being leaders meeting in a room, adding: “Step Change has been successful, but it has reached a pinnacle. It needs to change to continue to be successful. That means bringing in the workforce.”
Another speaker was Bob Keiller, chairman of OGUK’s helicopter safety task group set up earlier this year.
He shared progress being made to improve helicopter safety in various areas, such as better helideck lighting. The task group was set up following the offshore tragedy in April, when two pilots and 14 oil workers died after a “catastrophic” gearbox failure sent a Super Puma AS332 L2 crashing into the sea 14 miles from Peterhead.