§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to her answer of 9 July,Official Report, column 318, if she will make a statement on the monitoring undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive since the end of June of the presence of adequate numbers of emergency standby vessels for offshore installations.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythI made clear to the hon. Member in my answer of 9 July 1992, at column318, that it is the responsibility of each individual operator to ensure that there is adequate standby vessel cover available at all times to provide the necessary safeguards.
Since June I have taken further action to remind industry of this responsibility. I issued a press statement on 6 August reminding operators that they must plan ahead to ensure that by the end of the year all their installations are supported by vessels which comply fully with the code on the assessment of the suitability of standby vessels attending offshore installations.
The Health and Safety Executive has made it clear that there can be no slippage in implementation, and dispensations will not be granted. I fully support this.