Health & Safety Report 2016

HEALTH & SAFETY REPORT 2016

2. Executive Summary

The UK offshore oil and gas industry is a major hazard sector and is committed to maintaining safe operations, protecting people, assets and the natural environment.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates the industry within a legal framework that is regarded as world-class. Safety performance on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) is monitored using a range of metrics. Personal Safety Performance 1 • Personal safety performance has continued to improve on the UKCS over the past 15 years. There were no reported fatalities in 2015 and the industry’s three-year rolling average, non-fatal injury rate per 100,000 workers decreased by 24 per cent from 569 in 2008 to 430 in 2015. • The UKCS’ lost time injury frequency 2 (fatalities and lost work day cases per million man-hours) at 0.7 compares well with neighbouring oil and gas regions. This rate is lower than Norway, Denmark and Ireland, below the European average and only slightly behind the best performer in the region – The Netherlands. • The over-seven-day injury rate in 2015 at just over 249 per 100,000 workers is at its lowest since it was first calculated in 1995-96. In 2015, 80 over-seven-day injuries were reported, with strains and sprains the most common causes. • The specified injury rate per 100,000 workers decreased by 38 per cent from 2000-01 to 2012-13 and by 20 per cent between 2013 (129) and 2015 (103). Over the last four years, fractures have accounted for the highest number of specified injuries. • The UK offshore oil and gas industry’s three-year average non-fatal injury rate in 2015 is lower than that of other industrial sectors such as manufacturing, transport/storage and construction.

1 Note this report covers a number of reporting periods with data taken from a variety of sources. More detail can be found in section 4 Figure 3. 2 As reported in the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers’ Safety Performance Indicator Report 2014 www.iogp.org/pubs/2014s.pdf

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