§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the mortality rate among North Sea divers; how the figures compare with other industries especially North Sea trawling; and how many divers have retired from the industry disabled.
§ Mr. John GrantI am informed by the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that the fatal accident incidence rate among divers working around offshore installations and on pipelines in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea was 6 per 1,000 in 1975 and 7 per 1,000 in 1976. A comparable figure for 1977 is not yet available.
Direct comparisons with other occupations may be misleading because of the intermittent character of diving work. However, fatal accident incidence rates per 1,000 at risk in other industries are as follows:
Deep sea trawling 3.160 Construction 0.181 Shipbuilding 0.140 All manufacturing industry 0.037 Mining 0.247 I am advised that statics relating specifically to North Sea trawling could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. No information is available as to how many divers have retired from the industry disabled.