Oil rig operators ‘ignoring safety’

Oil rigs operating in British waters may have come close to suffering devastating explosions, says maritime and transport union the RMT.

The union obtained HSE documents, via a freedom of information request, showing that it had been necessary for the regulator to issue legally binding improvements notices to a number of operators.

The HSE found evidence of corrosion that might have resulted in severe damage in at least three installations. Such incidents could amount to a criminal breach of health and safety law.

One of the most troubling incidents occurred on a rig run by Marathon. Around 100 workers on Marathon’s Brae Alpha rig (located 100 miles north east of Aberdeen) were put at risk when a flammable gas escaped in significant quantities on the platform. No gas detection system was in place and disaster was only averted when a worker smelt the gas.

Jake Molloy, the RMT’s offshore organiser, said: “We find it astonishing that this significant gas leak was only discovered by a worker actually smelling the gas”. Molloy added some operators were showing a “blatant disregard for workers’ health and safety”.