Unite’s Graham Tran comments, “There was recently a case where a young man was given a 24 month prison sentence for spraying graffiti on train carriages. When Shell was prosecuted following the deaths of two workers on Brent Bravo, they pleaded guilty and got a fine of £90,000. That is the equivalent of the profit they make in 45 minutes. A two year sentence for spraying paint on trains – 45 minutes for killing two men.”

So the continuing prioritisation of profit in preference to human life, outlined in Nathan’s article, remains the case today. No prosecution has ever been launched against Occidental Petroleum on account of the 167 deaths in the disaster

Graham Tran continues, “Safety has improved since Piper Alpha, but not enough...too many bad players continually put profits before safety.”The permit-to-work system, which Nathan’s article shows was a problem on Piper Alpha with changing shifts, is still a problem.  “More operators are coming into the North Sea, which means that workers could be working for 13 different operators over a one year period. There needs to be a single permit-to-work system”

Jake Molloy of the RMT offshore branch adds, “(Survey) KP3 identified exactly what we have been saying about safety for the last 8 to 10 years. There are problems of corrosion due to lack of maintenance, and budgets for improvement based on a $10 barrel of oil, when the price is now $120 a barrel.”

But the main problem is the continued casualisation of the industry. Twenty years ago workers with trade union sympathies or who expressed concerns about safety were routinely NRBd (Not Required Back – blacklisted). 80% of offshore workers are employed by subcontractors. They can still be victimised. Offshore workers do not even have the same rights to safety reps as workers onshore.

There’s still a long way to go.