Letter: Offshore safety

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster (your report, 6 January), it has become clear that many of the issues bear the same hallmarks as those from the Piper Alpha explosion in 1988. Following the release of the National Commission report, we should take comfort from the fact that things have since changed in North Sea drilling.

This week it was announced that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will employ 15 more inspectors in Aberdeen to further protect standards.

In UK terms, this report should make our coalition government even more determined to safeguard the budgets of the HSE and other regulators, to maintain safety and health as a priority in offshore operations.

The report identifies that the Macondo well regulator was responsible for both collecting revenue from the development of US oil resources, and making and enforcing health and safety regulations. This meant a constant tension existed between the two roles and, as in UK offshore production during the 1990s, health and safety lost the battle.

Ian Waldram

Offshore Group

Institution of Occupational Safety and Health

Aberdeenshire