Health and safety performance

The vision for the UK offshore is that, in 2010 the UK is the safest place to work in the worldwide oil and gas industry. 2004 saw the UK continuing to close the gap on the best in the world and lead European performance. However this gap has widened during 2005.

Figure 12: Lost Time Injury Frequency - UK to be the Safest Place to Work in the World-wide Oil and Gas Industry by 2010

HSE also publish offshore injury, ill-health and incident statistics which show that the safety performance of the offshore sector remains mixed. It compares favourably with agriculture, transport, construction and other extractive sectors, but less so with the onshore chemicals sector and manufacturing.

There were no fatal accidents during 2004/2005, but the over-3-day and major injury rates remain stubbornly high, with around 48 people being seriously hurt each year offshore (but was 64% lower than in 1997/8). 551 "dangerous occurrences" were reported in 2004/5 (compared with 530 in 2003/4, an increase of 21). The overall major injury rate is 21% lower than the 10-year peak in 1997/8.

Figure 13: Fatalities and injuries: 2000 - 2005