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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2019 :: RMTnews
6
RMT repeated its call for a full
public inquiry into helicopter
safety in the North Sea earlier
this month as workers from
across the industry marked the
anniversary of the Super Puma
tragedy that alerted the nation
to the dangerous working
environment for offshore
workers.
April 1 2019 was the tenth
anniversary of the fatal
helicopter accident off Peterhead
in which all fourteen offshore
workers and two crew on board
were killed.
They were travelling from the
Miller Oil Platform to Aberdeen
in an AS332 L2 Super Puma
model which experienced
catastrophic failure of the main
rotor gear box – very similar to
the causes of two ditchings and
the fatal accident off Norway on
April 29 2016.
RMT sent condolences to the
families, friends and colleagues
affected, especially as they were
forced to endure a Fatal
Accident Inquiry process which
took nearly five years and
achieved next to nothing in the
way of justice or meaningful
lessons.
Today there is growing anger
over the refusal of the Scottish
government to reconsider its
opposition to a public inquiry
into helicopter safety.
North East Labour MSP Lewis
Macdonald has called on
ministers to reconsider their
decision not to back a public
inquiry into helicopter safety in
the North Sea, after he received
what he has described as a
“deeply disappointing” reply
from Energy Minister Paul
Wheelhouse.
Lewis Macdonald regretted
that decision not to back the
calls being made by the
workforce and their unions for a
full public inquiry into
helicopter safety.
“The Offshore Co-ordinating
Group has previously
highlighted that the helicopter
journey to and from work is the
biggest single safety concern for
offshore workers.
“When so many workers are
coming together to highlight
safety concerns, it is vital that
both Scottish and UK
governments take on board
what they have to say.
“That is why SNP Ministers
at Holyrood must reconsider this
decision and back calls from
workers for a UK-wide public
inquiry into helicopter safety,”
he said.
RMT general secretary Mick
Cash added that while the
Scottish government’s
engagement on offshore
helicopter safety was welcome it
will be of little consolation to
North Sea oil and gas workers
whose confidence in the safety
of the offshore helicopter fleet
has seriously declined.
The commercial S-92 fleet in
the North Sea is being
intensively used and the review
of CAP1145 will not involve the
trade unions or Step Change in
Safety, the independent safety
body for the offshore industry.
“We are not confident that
the CAP1145 review will look
seriously at commercial
pressures on safety standards
and it won’t tackle the justice
deficit that families of victims
of the fatal helicopter incidents
in the last decade have endured
from the Fatal Accident Inquiry
process.
“Ultimately, the Scottish
government has sided with the
interests of the oil and gas
industry and against offshore
workers in opposing the call for
a public inquiry into offshore
helicopter safety,” he said.
DISASTER: Wreckage from a helicopter being brought ashore after fourteen oil workers and two crew died when a Bond Super
Puma crashed off the Aberdeenshire coast on April 1 2009.
SUPER PUMA
DISASTER 10 YEARS ON
Scottish government refuses to back
helicopter safety inquiry