Helicopter Safety Steering Group under Step Change in Safety will carry forward the work which was previously taken up by the Helicopter Task Group set up by Oil & Gas UK, following two major helicopter incidents in 2009.
In the report, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) urges Oil & Gas UK to adopt the guidance in Civil Aviation Publication (CAP) 437, entitled offshore helicopter landing areas – guidance on standards.
The guidance states for accurate weather reports to helicopter operators, the personnel must be trained and qualified to conduct weather observations from vessels and platforms equipped for helicopter offshore operations.
Over 50 offshore sites across the UKCS have been set up while few remaining sites in the process of being set up to provide hub station information including cloud, weather, visibility data.
To date, over 630 meteorological observers have completed the two-day weather forecasting course run by either the Met Office or StormGeo, post February 2009
The aim is to train sufficient numbers to have up to four or five fully trained weather observers per installation in the UKCS and for them to have a web-based refresher course every two years.
Action is also in hand to provide a standardized network of automatic weather reporting equipment on UKCS oil and gas installations, in order to share weather data between operators.
The network should be fully operational later in the year and will help improve the accuracy of the offshore weather observations given to helicopter operators.
It is also recommended that the CAA amends CAP 437 to encourage operators of vessels and offshore installations, equipped with helidecks, to adopt the new lighting standard, once the specification has been finalised.
Upgraded version of a contrasting (green) perimeter lighting for illuminating the circle and the large ‘H’ at the centre of the helideck will undergo final testing during the winter months.
Oil & Gas UK and Step Change in Safety will recommend its use by the industry, once the new system receives approval for manufacture.
Recommendations in an earlier 2009 AAIB Bulletin regarding the personal locator beacons (PLBs) worn by offshore helicopter passengers have already been addressed.
PLBs are mandatory for all offshore travel, and life raft locator beacons have also been modified to address problems with transmission interference.
Training in the correct use of the beacons is now incorporated into formal offshore survival training courses as well as in the safety briefings given to passengers before flying offshore.
Oil & Gas UK health and safety director Robert Paterson said the UK offshore oil and gas industry suffered two major helicopter incidents in 2009: the ditching in February and of course the tragic loss of Flight 85N shortly afterwards.
Oil & Gas UK is a representative organization for the UK offshore oil and gas industry.
