§ Mrs. Winifred Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Energy how many fatal accidents and non-fatal accidents causing injury there have been in the North Sea oil operations; how many fatal accident inquiries have been held and where; and 607W what is the total number of accidents reported.
§ Mr. John SmithAccidents on or in the immediate vicinity of offshore oil and gas installations on the United Kingdom Shelf are reported to the Department of Energy. Information about fatal accidents and accidents resulting in serious injuries up to the end of 1974 may be found on pages 6, 7 and 35 of the Department's recent publication entitled "Development of the oil and gas resources of the United Kingdom". Twenty-nine of the fatal accidents occurred in waters off England and Wales and 14 in waters off Scotland. There have been four fatal accidents in 1975, all in waters off Scotland, and 13 accidents resulting in serious injuries.
Under powers in the Offshore Installations (Inspectors and Casualties) Regulations 1973, the Petroleum Engineering Directorate of the Department of Energy makes inquiries about accidents arising from the operation of offshore installations. No record is maintained of the numbers of inquiries made. A public inquiry was held into the loss of the mobile drilling installation "Sea Gem" in 1965 when 13 lives were lost.
The Department of Trade is notified of fatal accidents to persons employed on British ships but no separate statistics are maintained of such accidents on ships engaged in North Sea oil operations. The reporting of accidents on foreign ships on the high seas is a matter for the flag State concerned.