17 April 2019
RMT Press Office:
RMT raises call for independent public inquiry into helicopter safety at Scottish TUC in Dundee today
OFFSHORE UNION RMT will raise again the call for a full independent public inquiry into energy industry helicopter safety through an emergency motion that will be moved by Aberdeen Trades Union Council and seconded by RMTat the Scottish TUC in Dundee today.
The motion says;
“Congress is dismayed that on 28 March 2019 in a statement in answer to a question in the Scottish Parliament the Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands refused to support an independent public inquiry into offshore helicopter safety despite the Transport Select Committee recommendation of 2014.
“Congress believes such an inquiry is essential, due to the ongoing decline in offshore workers’ confidence in the safety of offshore helicopter operations.
“Congress is concerned that the Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) process is not an effective means of restorative justice for the families affected by offshore helicopter incidents; neither does the FAI process offer meaningful safety lessons for the wider industry that could contribute to tackling workers’ loss of confidence in the safety of offshore helicopters.
“Congress is also concerned that this lack of justice and the decline in worker confidence have coincided with safety improvement measures introduced by the Civil Aviation Authority’s CAP1145 in 2014, which recommended self-regulation on the issue of commercial pressure.
“Congress, therefore, welcomes the recent cross-party support from SNP, Labour and Lib Dem MPs for the parliamentary motion tabled on 8 April 2019, calling for an independent public inquiry into the safety of offshore helicopter transport.
RMT General Secretary, Mick Cash said:
“It is nothing short of a scandal that the Scottish and UK Governments are opposing the public inquiry that is clearly needed to tackle the decline we have seen over the last 10 years in offshore workers’ confidence in the safety of the helicopter transport they are required to travel in.
“That is why are calling for renewed support from across the Scottish trade union movement for our on-going campaign in Dundee today.
“Both RMT and Unite support an inquiry, which would cover commercial pressures brought on operators by oil and gas companies and we now have a significant body of cross-party support, including SNP MPs in Westminster, who have added their voices to this important campaign for a just response to the deaths, trauma and growing safety fears of North Sea oil and gas workers and their families.
Ends.
Full text of emergency composite motion
Emergency Composite A - Offshore Helicopter Safety
“That this Congress pays tribute to the memory of the thirty-three offshore workers and crew, who have died in accidents involving Super Puma helicopters in the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea since 1 April 2009.
“Congress is dismayed that on 28 March 2019 in a statement in answer to a question in the Scottish Parliament the Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands refused to support an independent public inquiry into offshore helicopter safety despite the Transport Select Committee recommendation of 2014.
“Congress believes such an inquiry is essential, due to the ongoing decline in offshore workers’ confidence in the safety of offshore helicopter operations.
“Congress is concerned that the Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) process is not an effective means of restorative justice for the families affected by offshore helicopter incidents; neither does the FAI process offer meaningful safety lessons for the wider industry that could contribute to tackling workers’ loss of confidence in the safety of offshore helicopters.
“Congress is also concerned that this lack of justice and the decline in worker confidence have coincided with safety improvement measures introduced by the Civil Aviation Authority’s CAP1145 in 2014, which recommended self-regulation on the issue of commercial pressure.
“Congress, therefore, welcomes the recent cross-party support from SNP, Labour and Lib Dem MPs for the parliamentary motion tabled on 8 April 2019, calling for an independent public inquiry into the safety of offshore helicopter transport.
“Congress urgently calls on the STUC General Council to:
• write to the Scottish Government, demanding that it gives its full support to the calls of offshore workers and their trade unions, for a full public inquiry to be held to consider the impact of commercial pressures on helicopter operations in the UK sector of the North Sea, in order to tackle the crisis of confidence amongst offshore workers in the mode of transport they rely on to get safely to and from work on North Sea oil and gas installations; and
• notify the relevant trade unions when this has been done and to communicate thereafter any response received to that letter from the Scottish Government, so that any possible further action thereafter can be considered by them.
Mover: Aberdeen Trades Union Council
Seconder: National Union of Rail, Maritime &
Transport Workers
Supporting: Unite the Union
Unity House
Tel: 020 7387 4771
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