§ Lord Molloy asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ Whether they propose to take any immediate action in the light of what is already known about the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster, in advance of the report of the inquiry, in order to prevent a repetition of such a tragedy.
§ Viscount DavidsonMy Lords, it is the Government's intention that any early lessons that can be learnt from the accident should be extracted and immediate guidance issued to operators of North Sea installations. To enable this, the Health and Safety Commission and the Secretary of State for Energy have set up a technical investigation into the cause of the accident.
§ Lord MolloyMy Lords, I thank the noble Viscount for that reply which contained a degree of encouragement. However, is the noble Viscount not aware that the threat of serious explosion can be contained? For example, experts have pointed out that on the Brent Alpha Platform, 200 miles further north and 24 hours earlier, a similar accident took place but because of the efficiency of the system, which had been properly maintained, the explosion was not nearly such a disaster as that which occurred on Piper Alpha. Are these matters being taken seriously? Is that the example that the noble Viscount had in mind when replying to my initial Question?
§ Viscount DavidsonMy Lords, of course everything is taken extremely seriously. That is why a public inquiry is being set up and also a departmental investigation.
§ Lord PestonMy Lords, do the Government know whether those who own and operate these oil rigs have themselves engaged in a series of safety checks in the past few weeks to make doubly sure, at least for the moment, that everything is as well as it can be?
§ Viscount DavidsonYes, my Lords, they have.
§ Lord MolloyMy Lords, is the noble Viscount also prepared to accept that the siting of the crews' living accommodation on the Alpha Piper platform, whoever brought that about, was also a disaster? According to the experts the accommodation should never have been placedthere. Does the noble Viscount therefore agree that constant testing of the central control system is necessary and that nothing trivial should be overlooked to prevent any such disaster in the future? I thank the Minister for his replies and the Government for their endeavours.
§ Viscount DavidsonMy Lords, I think that it is wrong for me to say anything at this stage or for anyone in this House to prejudge what may come out of the inquiry.