Stockton North MP, Alex Cunningham, has called on the Government to implement better safety training for the transportation of offshore workers via helicopter.
Speaking in the Commons this week, Alex – who has spent years working with trade unions to improve employment rights and safety standards for offshore workers – raised that 14 out of the 29 recommendations from the 2014 Civil Aviation Authority review offshore helicopter safety are yet to be implemented.
Forty per cent of the 51,000 North Sea UK sector workers being transported 200m via helicopter. Trade unions are calling for a wider review of basic offshore induction and emergency training (BOSIET) to ensure the processes for transportation are robust and offshore workers are safe.
Alex said:
The safety of offshore workers is imperative, and the Government must be alive to working with the Civil Aviation Authority and trade unions to ensure that workers get to North Sea installations safely.
A wider review of the helicopter safety elements of the basic offshore induction and emergency training (BOSIET) is a significant proposal for offshore workers, and I have called on the Minister to explain what input his department will play in this review.
Alex has also requested a meeting with the Minister to discuss the matter further.