One common global standard would improve offshore safety

Recent events in the Gulf of Mexico, coupled with less tragic but still serious incidents around the world, drive home the fact that the offshore industry operates in some of the harshest, most hostile, and therefore hazardous environments for workers anywhere in the world.

This industry is truly global and the workforce is highly mobile yet we still do not have a global approach to ensuring offshore safety.

Individual companies have made huge efforts to improve safety and there is no doubting the commitment by many independent and multi-national players. Indeed, BP probably has one of the best safety cultures in the industry, yet theDeepwater Horizon tragedy underlines that, despite robust processes and procedures, things can still go tragically wrong.

In some regions, particularly in the UK, pan-industry safety initiatives have demonstrated considerable success.

However, basic safety knowledge and awareness around the world remain a worrying concern.

The delivery and content of basic safety training varies dramatically from region to region and lacks consistency across the industry.

It is the fundamental right of every offshore worker to have the confidence that the guy sitting next to him in the helicopter or working on the drill floor has been trained to the same high standards. That way no-one’s safety would be compromised.

Imagine the real step-change we would see if every worker offshore was trained to the same standard. Adopting common standards and engaging the essential support to apply them uniformly across the industry is a significant challenge. But it is one on which we should not be looking to compromise.

OPITO is up for the challenge and ready to roll out common global standards but it cannot do it without industry support. The industry must buy into this global approach.

There is a huge prize to be won if the industry accepts the challenge and really wants to do something about safety. Not only would lives be saved but efficiencies could be made and costs reduced.

BOSIET (basic offshore safety induction and emergency training) is now well-recognized around the world with well over 100,000 workers in 30 countries trained to that standard per annum. Recent incidents in the South China Seas and the North Sea involving helicopters ditching revealed that the emergency response training was directly responsible for the way in which the workers responded to the incident. Ultimately the training ensured their survival.

The BOSIET training standards is therefore proven but it is still not uniformly applied around the world.

We recently introduced MIST (minimum industry safety training) to the global industry. This has been developed by OPITO, employers and the offshore workforce to improve efficiency and standardize safety training.

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 centered on mechanical lifting and platform integrity.

Already in the UK, MIST has brought a consistent approach to basic safety training where every person on board now has confidence that their fellow worker has the same level of safely skills and knowledge as they have. It has also greatly rationalized the myriad of induction programs applied by specific employers. It is quickly becoming an essential part of offshore training with the majority of UK employers having implementation plans in place.

Essentially, BOSIET is all about traveling to work safely and responding effectively to alarms, and MIST is all about working safely in the workplace when you get there.

These two standards combined and applied to every offshore worker around the world would give greater confidence to offshore workers in the industry, and help avoid further incidents and tragedies.

We will continue to push hard for the industry to adopt common, global safety and competency standards. While at times it is an uphill struggle, it is one that will be worth the effort because it could prevent future incidents and potentially save lives.

David Doig
Group Chief Executive, OPITO

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