HC Deb 14 July 1971 vol 821 cc672-7
Mr. Ogden

I beg to move Amendment No. 30, in page 7, line 26, after 'offences', insert : whereby the safety of persons on or near the installation, or of the installation itself, is endangered'. The whole Bill is concerned with the safety of persons on the oil rigs and of the rigs themselves, their construction and certification. It is a safety Bill. The Under-Secretary has accepted the feelings of hon. Members and has emphasised that the master's powers are concerned with the safety of the rig. These matters were not put to the vote in Committee, and I do not think that we want to put them to a vote tonight, but we want the Minister to make it clear that the reference in subsection (2) to … the creation of offences and … their punishment on summary conviction or conviction on indictment … means offences against safety. He may say that these words will underline what is already there, but this will give him the opportunity to say publicly what he said in Committee.

Mr. Ridley

I am sensitive to the substance of the argument which the hon. Gentleman has adduced, but I must advise hon. Members that the Amendment is not necessary because the provisions of Clause 7(2)(a) are already limited to the creation of offences only for those matters about which regulations may be made under the Bill. Clause 6(1) in particular, which gives power to make regulations on various operational matters, is limited to regulations for the safety, health and welfare of persons on offshore installations … and for the safety of such installations and the prevention of accidents on or near them. The power under Clause 7(2) to create offences will be used to provide a necessary means of enforcement for the regulation provisions about these matters. Additionally, however, as regulations under the Bill may also deal with other matters, such as registration and certification of installations, inquiries into casualties and accidents and so on, the power to create offences will extend to offences in connection with these matters also, and it is equally essential to provide a means of enforcement for these matters.

If the Amendment were made it might throw into doubt the appropriateness of creating criminal offences in regulations for matters not directly or obviously connected with endangering the safety of persons on or near the installation or of the installation itself, but which it would be none the less important to enforce in the general interests of safety, health and welfare—that is, registration of an installation, taking of evidence at an inquiry and so on. It would also prevent the creation of any offences on health and welfare matters, which would be very much against the interests of the men working on board. The Amendment is, therefore, undesirable as well as unnecessary.

Perhaps I should take this opportunity to comment on the explosion which took place on the fixed Platform A on B.P.'s West Sole Gasfield, some 45 miles east of the Humber, on Monday, 7th June. I undertook to speak about this in Committee, but unfortunately an opportunity did not present itself. As the Amendment is concerned with safety, it might be convenient for me to comment on the subject now.

The platform consists of two unmanned structures linked by a footbridge. The larger of the two structures was originally used for drilling the wells and now carries a helicopter deck and living accommodation for maintenance crews. The smaller, or adjunct, structure carries all the production equipment and it is from here that the gas enters the pipeline to the shore.

The explosion occurred on the adjunct structure and the resultant drop in the gas pressure caused automatic safety devices to operate and shut off the supply of gas from all the wells in the field. The fire which followed the explosion was maintained for some hours by gas in the pipeline system, but by 11.30 all this gas had been burnt and the fire died out. A number of secondary fires which broke out in the living accommodation on the drilling structure were extinguished by the automatic sprinkler system.

Production from the field was suspended until Saturday, 12th June, when B.P. engineers had isolated the damaged platform from the pipeline to the shore so that production from the unaffected platforms could be resumed. B.P. are making a full investigation of the occurrence and have been formally asked to furnish a written report to the Secretary of State. Its investigation is not yet complete.

Under the powers contained in Clause 6, safety regulations could deal with all aspects of this or other dangerous occurrences on an installation, whether unmanned, as in this instance, or manned. For example, under paragraphs 1 and 3 of the Schedule, regulations can be made as to the general safety of the installation and the safety of places on it where people may be working. Under paragraph 4, the regulations can specify safety requirements for the equipment to be installed on the platform.

I hope that this gives hon. Members the information they wanted on this subject. I also hope that they will not feel it necessary to press the Amendment, for the reasons I have given.

Mr. Albert Booth (Barrow-in-Furness)

When we discussed this part of the Bill in Committee, concern was indicated by Opposition Members about the nature of the regulations which would affect working on the sea bed in the vicinity of the installations and whether the regulations would extend to diving.

Since then, I have had an opportunity, with one of my hon. Friends, to study this matter rather more deeply, and what we have learned has led us to be more apprehensive. It appears that there are now some highly advanced diving techniques which can require men to be under a state of compression for periods of up to eight days, so that work can be done on the sea bed at the depth at which the deepest of the offshore installations are now working.

12.15 a.m.

In the light of the very specialised techniques, it would appear that if regulations are to be made, as I think they should, it would be necessary to have highly detailed consultations with those who have the most advanced knowledge in these matters. It would, therefore, be desirable if the Minister could indicate, preferably tonight, what procedure he envisages for making regulations of this nature and whether I am correct in assuming that, ultimately, he will be making regulations concerning diving in the vicinity of the installations.

Mr. Prescott

If I may speak again with the leave of the House, I thank the Under-Secretary for his reply concerning the B.P. gas fire blow-out, about which I wrote to him and asked whether he could furnish information about the fire.

I should like to put on record that although, at that time, a number of hon. Members expressed concern about gas blow-outs, this does not necessarily mean that we are convinced that accidents can be avoided. These are extremely dangerous exploration projects and there will be a considerable number of them in the future. Most of us have, however, been extremely impressed by the safety procedures and standards adopted by the industry. My purpose in asking for information about the fire was so that we could consider what we might be able to do. The sort of reply that we have had reprsents a vote of confidence in the industry.

I would like to know what the Minister means wher he refers to the health and welfare regulations and the offences that are referred to. Does he mean that the Government will specify standards, for example, concerning the provision of medical facilities on installatons and also, perhaps, about accommodation facilities to be provided on them?

From my seafaring experience, I recall people living 16 or 18 to a room, which caused a great deal of tuberculosis in the Merchant Service. I have noticed that some of the oil installations have as many as 12 or 14 men in one room, occupying three-tier bunks. I wonder, therefore, whether the Under-Secretary contemplates, as in the Merchant Shipping Acts, specifying standards in this respect.

Mr. Ridley

With the leave of the House, my reply to the hon. Member for Barrow-in-Furness (Mr. Booth) is that, as I said in Committee, we will make regulations concerning diving but we will have to consult widely experts in diving and it may be some time before we are able to devise regulations which are wholly acceptable to all interests. I entirely take the point that it is necessary to do this. On the other hand, the hon. Member will, I am sure, agree that it is necessary to get the regulations right in this rather complicated and advanced sector of technology.

In reply to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott), regulations can certainly be made which will deal with medical and other matters relating to health and welfare, including accommodation standards. Under the Bill, it will be possible to make regulations, if necessary, on any of these matters.

The hon. Member will, I think, agree that it is not always necessary to make regulations until there is a need for them. The power will exist to make regulations, however, and if at any stage the accommodation or medical provision should deteriorate, there will be nothing to stop the Government making regulations at that time. However, I confirm that it is our intention to investigate these matters with a view to making recommendations as soon as possible.

Amendment negatived.

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