Industry profile
In 2014/15 the UK offshore oil and gas industry had around 332 installations operating within the UKCS, of which 236 were production installations. There was a supporting infrastructure of 14,000 km of pipelines connecting installations to beach terminals. Industry commissioned many of these assets in the early 1970s and some are forecast to continue operating to 2030 and beyond.
In 2014/15 more than 5½ million worker days were spent offshore, and it is estimated that there was an offshore population of 33,664 full time equivalent (FTE) workers. This information is derived from the industry’s Vantage personnel tracking system, which records the number of nights of Persons on Board (PoB) in a year. Assuming each shift on average lasts 12 hours, and the average number of hours worked in a year considered to be ‘full time’ is 2000, then the number of FTE workers in a year is:
Total PoB Nights x 12 (average shift) ÷ 2000 (FTE)
(The assumption that a full time equivalent works 2000 hours a year is based on what other regulators do, in particular OSHA see: www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Accident-Incident-Rate)
More information can be found with Oil & Gas UK’s Workforce Demographics Report at http://oilandgasuk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/EM014.pdf
Each year, Oil & Gas UK publish a report on activity in the UK Offshore Oil & Gas industry. Information for 2013, can be found in their report ‘Activity Survey 2014’ which can be found at http://oilandgasuk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/EC044.pdf
All injuries
Injuries by severity 2005/06 – 2014/15p
p = provisional
For RIDDOR, a number of system and legislative changes have occurred over the past four years, making like-for-like comparisons difficult with previous data. See www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/riddor-notification.htm for more information
Fatalities
Key points for 2014/15:
- There was one fatality in 2014-15 as a result of a fall from height
- There were four fatalities in the last 5 years and eight in the last 10 years
Major/Specified injuries
Major/Specified Injuries 2004/05 – 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- In October 2013, the classification of ‘Major injuries’ to workers was replaced with a shorter list of ‘Specified injuries’ (see www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg453.pdf )
- There were 16 Specified injuries
- Due to the changes, Major and Specified injury counts and rates cannot be reliably compared with each other
- The rate was 48 injuries per 100,000 workers. It is too early to say whether the fall in recent years is a downward trend
Over 3-day (O3D) & Over 7-day (O7D) Injuries
O3D & O7D injuries 2005/06 – 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- There were 125 O7D injuries, compared to 112 in 2013/14
- The rate of O7D injuries was 371 workers per 100,000 workers
- Due to the changes, O3D and O7D counts and rates cannot be reliably compared with each other
- The rate of O3D injures fell in the years prior to 2011/12, when the rate was estimated at around 330 injuries per 100,000 workers; following the changes, there is some indication that the rate of O7D injuries has increased
Nature of injury
Injuries by nature and severity 2012/13, 2013/14 & 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- Fractures accounted for three-quarters of Major/Specified injuries (12 of 16)
- Sprains and strains accounted for just over a third of O7D injuries (46 of 125)
- The distribution of severity by nature of injury is similar over the past three years
Part of body injured
Injuries by part of body injured and severity 2012/13, 2013/14 & 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- Upper limbs accounted for just under half of all injuries (62 of 142)
- Lower limbs accounted for under a third of all injuries (42 of 142)
- Injuries to limbs accounted for around three-quarters of both Major/Specified injuries (12 of 16) and O7D injuries (92 out of 125)
- The distribution of severity by part of body injured is similar over the past three years
Kind of accident
Injuries by kind of accident and severity 2012/13, 2013/14 & 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- Slips trips or fall on the same level (48) accounted for a third of all injuries, and Injured whilst handling, lifting or carrying (32) accounted for under a quarter of all injuries
- The distribution of severity by kind of accident is similar over the past three years, with the exception of Struck by a moving, flying or falling object (30% in 2013/14, 10% in 2014/15) – this could be a true reduction, or a change in reporting behaviour as Other/ not recorded shows an increase in 2014/15
Work process
Injuries by work process and severity 2012/13, 2013/14 & 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- Maintenance/construction tasks accounted for just over half of all injuries (76 of 142), with Management/accommodation accounting for a fifth (26 of 142)
- Maintenance/construction accounted for just under half of Major/Specified injuries (7 of 16)
- The distribution of severity by work process is similar over the past three years, although comparisons are based on small counts.
- Caution should be taken with the above work process environment allocations due to incomplete information on RIDDOR reports.
Dangerous occurrences (1) - overall
Dangerous occurrences 2005/06 - 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- There were 369 dangerous occurrences (DOs), of which over a fifth were Hydrocarbon releases
- There has been a gentle downward trend of DOs in the past 10 years
- The distribution of types of DOs is similar over the past three years
Dangerous occurrences (2) - Hydrocarbon releases (HCRs)
Hydrocarbon releases 2005/06 - 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- Since 1st April 2014, due to a change in the reporting criteria, “non-process HCRs” (e.g. heli-fuel, diesel spills) are no longer reported via HSE’s voluntary notification scheme. As such, these releases have no severity classification.
- There were 82 HCRs, the lowest ever recorded level (there were 96 in 2012/13 and 123 in 2013/14)
- Much of this decrease was due to a reduction in minor releases (31 in 2014/15, about two-fifths of the number in 2013/14)
- The numbers of significant and major HCRs together have dropped year-on-year for the last 5 years
Dangerous occurrences (3) – Wells
Well Incidents 2010/11 to 2014/15p
Key point for 2014/15:
- There were 39 incidents
- 15 involved the operation of a blowout preventer or diverter to control an unplanned flow from the well
- 23 involved the mechanical failure of a safety critical component of a development well
Dangerous occurrences (4) – Pipelines
Pipelines incidents 2010/11 to 2014/15p
Key points for 2014/15:
- There were 44 incidents, or which 36 were reports of Riser Emergency Shut Down Valves not meeting the performance standard under test
- 5 were reported as hydrocarbon releases
Dangerous occurrences (5) – other incidents
Dropped objects
- There were 98 incidents of dropped objects in 2014/15
- There are no previous full years of data for dropped objects because this DO type has only been recorded since RIDDOR changed in October 2013 (previously recorded under Station keeping/ dropped objects/weather)
Lifting machinery
- There were eight incidents in 2014/15
- The number of incidents in the previous three years were 20, 13 and seven respectively
Collisions/ possible collisions offshore
- There were six incidents in 2014/15
- In the last six years, the numbers of annual incidents ranged from four to seven
Subsidence or collapse of seabed / loss of stability or buoyancy
- Ten incidents were reported in the last six years and prior to this there were only two incidents since 2001/02
Evacuation of installations
- There were five evacuations reported in 2014/15 and a total of 14 in the last six years
Reportable Diseases
- In 2014/15, there were 15 incidents of ill health reported, including six cases of chickenpox and six of hand-arm vibration
- In the last ten years, there have been 143 incidents of ill health reported to RIDDOR including cases of chickenpox (55), hand-arm vibration (24), decompression illness (23), mumps (15) and occupational dermatitis (7)
All reportable events by Site 2014/15p
p = provisional
The ‘Fatality’ and ‘Diseases’ categories are small counts shown as spots, where each spot represents a report
The chart excludes 20 reports as it wasn’t possible to determine the site
Key to acronyms: MODU – Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit; FPSO/FSU – Floating Production, Storage & Offloading / Floating Storage Unit; NUI – Normally Unmanned Installation;
Key points for 2014/15:
- Just over half of the reports occurred on a fixed installation, followed by MODU (17%) and FPSO/FSU (13%)
- The total number of reportable events has gently declined over the past ten years with little change in the distribution of Site
Regulatory Activity
HSE's regulatory programme for the offshore industry seeks to ensure major hazard and personal risks are properly managed in compliance with legislative requirements. Where appropriate, HSE will take formal enforcement action to prevent harm and secure justice in line with its Enforcement Policy.
Key regulatory activities are:
- Assessing safety cases
- Inspecting installations
- Investigating incidents
- Identifying issues of non-compliance where formal enforcement action has not been taken as the Dutyholder has rectified matters within an agreed reasonable timeframe
- Formal enforcement action such as issuing Notices and prosecution in serious cases
More information can be found in the HSE Business Plan 2012/15 which can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/strategiesandplans/businessplans/updated-april14-businessplan12-15.pdf
Assessment
Number of safety cases assessed 2011/12 to 2014/15p
