Industry body reveals continued fall in COVID- 19 offshore cases ahead of upcoming event
Published: 28 July, 2020
The leading representative body for the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector will reflect on lessons learnt from the coronavirus pandemic as it reveals suspected covid-19 cases offshore continue to decrease due to “effective industry-wide measures” to protect the sector.
OGUK will host a free webinar ‘Covid-19: A retrospective and look ahead’ to provide insight into the industry’s response, where a panel of experts will outline their experiences of the pandemic and its impact.
The event, to be held on Thursday, July 30, from 2pm to 3.30pm, will be hosted by Trevor Stapleton, OGUK’s HSE director.
It comes as the industry body confirms that the number of Category C flights has continued to decrease and was made up of just 0.03% of total persons on board (POB) offshore installations for the week ending July 26 – allowing the sector to continue providing secure and affordable energy in support of the energy transition.
Trevor Stapleton, OGUK’s health, safety and environment director, said: “The reduction in c-med flights is a recognition of both industry-imposed barriers and UK measures being effective.
“As we move into the recovery phase – which will mean increasing POB offshore – a missing piece of the jigsaw is still asymptomatic testing for our offshore workforce, carried out using the NHS UK test centres and we continue to make the case for this with both the UK and Scottish governments.
“It is worth noting that a Cat-C passenger is only symptomatic of Covid-19 and may not be a positive case, therefore the percentage figure is the worst-case scenario.
“However, now is not the time for us to become complacent and we will be paying close attention to the figures going forward.
“The coronavirus pandemic is of a scale and severity which none of us have seen before, but we shouldn’t take for granted the true value of the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry’s culture of safety.”
As well as a look back on how the industry has responded to the crisis, the event will also look ahead to the next six months to consider what steps could be taken in terms of navigating the operational impact of COVID-19, preparations for winter flu season and the foreseen impacts.
The webinar is open to all industries, companies and individuals, where attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the emergency preparedness and response in the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry, hear first-hand insights from professionals at the frontline of coordinating an industry-wide response.
Mr Stapleton added: “The open and continuous sharing of our experiences within our industry, with other sectors and with government will be critical as we look to the future. While we must now start working on how to bring this essential industry back on its feet, we must also take the time to learn and reflect.
“The upcoming webinar will give an opportunity to understand potential future risks and how this could impact business and allow us to further improve workforce safety and engagement.”
The event – where delegates will also learn about the challenges and lessons in protecting a diverse workforce in both on and offshore environments – will also include comment from Natalie Coupar, communications manager, OGUK, Chris Flint, HSE director Energy Division, Health and Safety Executive, Matt Rhodes, director UK & Turkmenistan Oil and Gas, Bristow Helicopters Ltd, and Mike Killeen ,VP Operations at Serica Energy.
