§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many inspections have been made by the Civil Aviation Authority since 1970 to ensure that the safety specifications which it recommends for offshire helidecks have been adhered to.
§ Mr. TebbitResponsibility for ensuring compliance with the safety standards for helidecks on offshore installations does not rest with the Civil Aviation Authority. The CAA provides the specifications for the location, design and equipment for the helidecks. These specifications are incorporated in a section of the document "Offshore Installations: Guidance on Design and Construction" issued by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy. The specifications have to be satisfied, or where shortcomings exist, compensating restrictions imposed on operations, before a certifying authority approved by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy can issue to the operator of an offshore installation the necessary certificate of fitness for that installation. Continued compliance with the specifications is ensured in a number of ways; through the annual renewal of the certificate of fitness for which the certifying authority carries out an annual survey of the installation; by independent inspections by the Department of Energy to see that the requirements of the regulations governing the safety of offshore installations and 391W their operations are complied with; through observations and reports made by helicopter operators of any changes in the helidecks affecting the specifications and of any discrepancies noted by CAA flight operations inspectors in the course of their routine flight checks of helicopter operations.