Offshore oil and gas companies are being urged to focus more closely on the potential for human error to cause major accidents, after an inspection of a platform operated by Apache in the North Sea found failings in plans to prevent fires and explosions.
News
HSE urges offshore oil and gas firms to focus more on safety risks from human error
By
on 23 July 2024
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a “major accident warning” to offshore firms on 22 July, in which it warned about the risks that human error can pose when performing safety critical tasks on oil and gas platforms.
HSE has issued a warning to all offshore firms to consider more closely the impact that human factors could have on safety critical tasks on oil and gas platforms. Photograph: iStock/Arild Lilleboe
The warning followed an improvement notice served by the regulator to Apache North Sea Limited in May, which said: “You have failed to take appropriate measures with a view to preventing fire and explosion – in particular to prevent the uncontrolled release of flammable or explosive substances, namely hydrocarbon fluids during main oil line (MOL) pig launcher operations, on the Forties Delta offshore installation.”
The notice added that human and organisational factors issues had not been addressed in the design of the pig launching system, or in the supporting procedures and competency management systems.
Apache, which has not appealed against the notice, has until 9 November to comply.
The action against Apache prompted a wider warning from HSE to all offshore firms to consider more closely the impact that human factors could have on safety critical tasks on oil and gas platforms.
“Offshore companies need to understand and evaluate where and how these safety critical tasks might be vulnerable to human error,” said Mary Marshall, a principal specialist inspector at HSE. “Safety Critical Task Analysis (SCTA) is an established, structured process that will help companies demonstrate that these tasks can be carried out safely, reliably, and that the risks are managed to as low as reasonably practicable.”
While several offshore companies have launched SCTA programmes, HSE says they have been implemented “with varying degrees of success”. Common failings include “a lack of sustained commitment and progress with the work, and inconsistencies in the quality of assessments”.
NEWS
‘Everyone should have PPE that fits’: BSI trails new inclusive PPE standard
By Belinda Liversedge on 21 August 2025
The British Standards Institution has published a white paper calling for inclusive PPE as a basic requirement for safe and compliant workplaces.
HSE take over criminal investigation into death of Gogglebox star
By Belinda Liversedge on 21 August 2025
HSE has formally taken over the criminal investigation into the death of George Gilbey, the Gogglebox star who died last year in a fall from height.
Maximum temperature law closer to reality under Bill amendment
By Belinda Liversedge on 21 August 2025
A Green Party peer has called for a new amendment in the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill requiring the government to publish a review of the impact of high temperatures on workplace health and safety.