Offshore staff
LONDON – UK industry association Oil and Gas UK has issued a new publication designed to improve offshore helicopter safety.
The “Guidelines for the Management of Aviation Operations” has been revised and updated, and, where relevant, aligned with the OGP “Aviation Management Guidelines”.
The publication includes details of changes such as the mandatory use of personal locator beacons, and improved accuracy and reliability of Vantage data resulting from the work of the Helicopter Task Group, established following a helicopter accident on April 1, 2009.
It also incorporates findings from the ongoing studies of Step Change in Safety’s Helicopter Safety Steering Group.
Oil & Gas UK’s health and safety director, Robert Paterson, said: “To develop these guidelines, we consulted widely across the industry; ranging from workforce representatives, trade unions, contractors, helicopter companies, emergency services, regulators, and oil and gas companies.
“With their participation, and the lessons the industry has learned from international aviation incidents such as the Canadian S92 helicopter accident in Newfoundland, we have identified technical and operational improvements to bolster aviation safety.
“The guidelines pull together all this knowledge providing us with a common framework of guidance which we recommend is applied to all offshore helicopter operations.”
04/15/2011