New helicopter rules cause fear among oil workers

oil industry climateOil industry.Photo: pixabay.com

New EU rules will make helicopter operations in the North Sea less safe for Norwegian oil workers,  LO fears.

–  For many years there has from various quarters been put a lot of effeort into strengthening the aviation safety for Norwegian oil workers. If these new rules are introduced, we fear that this trend will be reversed,  LO secretary Peggy Hessen Følsvik says to the news agency NTB.

In their comments  for the inquiry LO  state that EEA legislation will be irreversible if it is introduced, and that it will do “irreparable harm” on aviation safety on the shelf.

– The safety at the Norwegian sector is at a high level. This will be weakened if the helicopter traffic to opens up to competition from players like foreign companies. The accident statistics are an completely different in British zone, says Følsvik.

Critical

In a letter sent on 23 June this year asked LO that the inquiry, which is taking place under the auspices of the Civil Aviation Authority,is postponed, pending an environmental impact assessment started by the Ministry .

However, the authorities did not comply with this request, and this angered LO.
– It is problematic that the CAA decide to go ahead with the inquiry before the EIA is ready, says Følsvik.

LO’s attitude is the that the new regulations simply do not need to be implemented because activities on the Norwegian shelf are exempt from the EEA Agreement.
– These rules are therefore not relevant to the EEA, in our opinion,  the LO-Secretary says.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today     ,