RESTRUCTURING OF THE OFFSHORE SAFETY REGIME

Motion Text

That this House is concerned by the merger of the Offshore Safety Division (OSD) into a single division covering the whole of the UK Energy Sector, as part of a Government exercise to restructure the Health and Safety Executive (HSE); notes that the OSD was set up on the recommendation of Lord Cullen following the Piper Alpha disaster on 6 July 1988; further notes that 2013 is the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster which killed 167 workers and remains the world's worst offshore catastrophe; deplores the HSE's lack of consultation with trade unions and industry prior to the introduction of these changes on 1 April 2013; further notes the call of the offshore trades unions, RMT, GMB and Unite for a survey to be conducted of the workplace culture amongst HSE's offshore safety inspectors; further notes that the forthcoming EU Directive on offshore safety will require further reorganisation of the offshore safety regime for the UK oil and gas sector; and calls on the Government to reinstate the specialist OSD, in line with Cullen, and to convene a meeting of trade unions, industry representatives and HSE officials to discuss the impact of the forthcoming EU Directive on the UK offshore safety regime.