BP North Sea safety fears

Prosecutions and Claims |
02.06.2007

BP's safety standards are in the spotlight again after the HSE served an Improvement Notice asking it to prove it is complying with the law at one of its North Sea offshore facilities. The notice was the seventh issued for the Schiehallion offshore floating vessel in the past 12 months.

Inspectors from the HSE's offshore division visited the Schiehallion - which had suffered a serious fire 18 months before - at the end of November 2006. They issued six improvement notices on 13 December, followed by a seventh on 30 March 2007. The most recent notice requires BP to carry out an audit to show it is fully complying with the law by ensuring risks on the vessel are as low as is reasonably practicable, or to set out what it is going to do to comply.

Two of the six initial notices served on Schiehallion were "very, very serious indeed," Jake Molloy of oilworkers' union OILC told Health and Safety Professional. These related to corrosion and patching on the main oil export line adjacent to an emergency refuge area and problems with the sea chest valves operating only manually, which is against industry good practice. Another notice refers to the "parlous condition" of equipment.

Last year, the HSE served 51 improvement and 9 prohibition notices on North Sea operators, compared with 35 improvement and 7 prohibition notices in 2005/06. Molloy believes this increase "reflects that the HSE is taking a more stringent line". It also shows that pressure from the workforce "is finally paying off," he said, and that the HSE is recognising that the "relationship between operator and regulator has been found to be wanting".

A BP spokesperson confirmed that four of the notices served on the Schiehallion are already "closed out" and work is continuing on the others. "The HSE is in agreement with our work programme and timeframe," she told Health and Safety Professional.

The HSE's concerns follow damning criticism of BP's cost cutting and neglect at its US refineries, including Texas City where 15 people died in March 2005.