HC Deb 16 January 1976 vol 903 cc257-8W
Mr. Small

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what arrangements he has made for dealing with accidents to offshore installations; and whether these arrangements have been tested.

Mr. Benn

Following the loss of the drilling barge "Transocean III" in January 1974 officials of my Department set up an inter-departmental working party to assess the risks of accidents to offshore installations, and to define the procedures to be followed to deal with such incidents.

An exercise to test the lines of communication in these procedures was drawn up by my Department with the full cooperation of British Petroleum, the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association, the General Council of British Shipping, British Airways and Bristows Helicopters, the Chief Constable of Grampian Region, the Ministry of Defence, Her Majesty's Coastguard and the Department of Trade. This exercise, which took place on 27th November last, was the first to be held since the procedures were defined. It showed that the lines of communication are adequate and that they work in practice. Some lessons have been learnt from the exercise which will enable the procedures to be streamlined without loss of efficiency.

It is intended that a further exercise, designed to test the procedures in greater depth, be held later this year.