§ Mr. DoranTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) in respect of the Auk production platform, how many times this has been inspected by the appropriate certifying authority in the last five years; what were the dates of inspection; what are the dates of inspection by his Department's inspectors in the same period; what was the result of these inspections; what regulations and guidance notes were in force at the time of construction of the installation; whether any exemption was applied for or granted to these provisions; whether the facilities on the installation comply with all current regulations and guidance notes; what is the number of injuries, including fatalities, occurring on the installation since it was positioned; how many breaches of regulations or Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 provisions have been812W reported to him; how many he has passed to the appropriate prosecution authority for action; and what is his latest estimate of the life of the installation;
(2) in respect of the Central Cormorant production platform, how many times this has been inspected by the appropriate certifying authority in the last five years; what were the dates of inspection; what are the dates of inspection by his Department's inspectors in the same period; what was the result of these inspections; what regulations and guidance notes were in force at the time of construction of the installation; whether any exemption was applied for or granted to these provisions; whether the facilities on the installation comply with all current regulations and guidance notes; what is the number of injuries, including fatalities, occurring on the installation since it was positioned; how many breaches of regulations or Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 provisions have been reported to him; how many he has passed to the appropriate prosecution authority for action; and what is his latest estimate of the life of the installation;
(3) in respect of the Hutton production platform, how many times this has been inspected by the appropriate certifying authority in the last five years; what were the dates of inspection; what are the dates of inspection by his Department's inspectors in the same period; what was the result of these inspections; what regulations and guidance notes were in force at the time of construction of the installation; whether any exemption was applied for or granted to these provisions; whether the facilities on the installation comply with all current regulations and guidance notes; what is the number of injuries, including fatalities, occurring on the installation since it was positioned; how many breaches of regulations or Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 provisions have been reported to him; how many he has passed to the appropriate prosecution authority for action; and what is his latest estimate of the life of the installation;
(4) in respect of the Montrose production platform, how many times this has been inspected by the appropriate certifying authority in the last five years; what were the dates of inspection; what are the dates of inspection by his Department's inspectors in the same period; what was the result of these inspections; what regulations and guidance notes were in force at the time of construction of the installation; whether any exemption was applied for or granted to these provisions; whether the facilities on the installation comply with all current regulations and guidance notes; what is the number of injuries, including fatalities, occurring on the installation since it was positioned; how many breaches of regulations or Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 provisions have been reported to him; how many he has passed to the appropriate prosecution authority for action; and what is his latest estimate of the life of the installation.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on Monday 2 April 1990 at columns406-11 about the offshore safety regime.
The most recent inspection of the Auk platform took place in May 1989, of Cormorant A in October 1989, of North Cormorant in February 1990, of Hutton in July 1989, of North West Hutton in November 1989, and of Montrose in January 1990. Central Cormorant is an underwater manifold centre linked to Cormorant A. The dates on which these platforms were installed are as follows: 813W
Platform Installation Date Auk July 1974 Cormorant A May 1978 North Cormorant April 1981 Hutton September 1984 North West Hutton September 1981 Montrose August 1975 Source:
Development of the Oil and Gas Resources of the United Kingdom, Department of Energy 1989.There has been one fatality on these platforms during the past five years; this occurred on Cormorant A in April 1989. My Department investigates all fatal accidents.
Over the same period, there has been one conviction for breach of United Kingdom safety legislation on these platforms following investigations by my inspectors. This involved Santa Fe UK Ltd. on which a penalty of £250 was imposed on 6 July 1988 following an incident on the Montrose platform.