Pursuing stable energy supplies by preventing and curtailing offshore incidents

In the wake of the global energy crisis and growing geopolitical challenges, the mounting pressure to strengthen the security of energy supply seems to permeate the world. However, this is far from easy to accomplish in these turbulent times due to multiple facets. One among the myriad of aspects to be considered in regard to this is offshore safety. What should organisations and energy players do to prevent offshore accidents, which result in injuries and delays, to help ensure the security and stability of the energy supply?

Even though some countries, organisations, and energy companies have put in place more thorough, meticulous, and precise measures to reduce the risks of accidents on offshore installations, in a bid to improve the safety of offshore wind and oil and gas infrastructure, incidents leading to injuries still happen for various reasons.

This raises the question of how the crucial risk identification, mitigation methods, and insight for offshore wind and oil and gas organisations can be overseen, so that, lives can be saved while the health and well-being of the workers on platforms and vessels supporting offshore projects are protected.

As Offshore Energy previously wrote, offshore safety is the primary responsibility of operators and individual countries, but an accident in one country can cause physical, environmental and economic damage to neighbouring countries as well. In line with this, disruptions to oil and gas production and transmission could affect global energy supplies and markets.

Therefore, avoiding major accidents, limiting the number of incidents, and mitigating the effects of any unintended releases of hydrocarbons or other hazardous substances rates very high on the agenda for global offshore wind and oil and gas players and countries worldwide.

Following accidents such as the 1988 Piper Alpha explosion in the North Sea and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the need for comprehensive safety measures was made all the more obvious. While the pressure grows on the offshore sector to ensure a stable energy supply, oil and gas organisations need to take steps to ensure that incidents and injuries are investigated to prevent recurrence and project delays in the sector.

To this end, Offshore Energy obtained insights from Kellen Knott, Director of Solutions at RMI, delving into the way RMI’s expert onboard medical services have enabled organisations to save lives and improve the health and safety of their workers in remote and hazardous work environments. Knott claims that “good access to robust health and medical services plays a key part” in enabling the security and stability of oil and gas supplies across the globe.

Remote Medical International (RMI) is a global organisation with over 20 years of experience, working on all seven continents and seven seas, to provide medical support services for companies working in offshore environments, which are unique in their distance from definitive care, environmental extremes, and limited resources. Due to the combination of these factors, Knott believes a good health and medical plan is “critical” for offshore organisations to have in place.

According to Knott, offshore organisations need preventative measures such as medical screenings, regular health and safety training, along with established emergency response measures, including on-site medical care, and medical evacuation to help ensure the health, safety and well-being of the workforce and reduce subsequent delays on offshore oil platforms and supporting vessels.

While there are many preventative measures that companies can take, Knott highlights ensuring that all workers are medically screened before working offshore as a very important one. RMI’s Director of Solutions explains that screening standards – like Offshore Energies United Kingdom (OEUK) medicals – assess workers for their fitness to work offshore and are performed by trained and certified clinicians who are experienced in offshore environments and remote occupational medicine.

As the screenings are designed to identify major risk factors in individuals that would make it unsafe for them to work offshore, Knott emphasises that the results of ongoing screenings like these can highlight serious medical conditions which would otherwise go unreported, leading to increased risks for workers and their teams.

“Having a critical injury or illness on an offshore job site can be a threat to life; limited access to medical care can cause delays which can result in negative patient outcomes. Being far away from definitive medical care can also result in expensive medical evacuations that disrupt operations – this is where preparation and prevention can help mitigate these risks and ultimately save lives,” underlined Knott.

Although one of the main responsibilities of medics is to treat ill and injured patients, their work also aims to prevent illness and injury, thus, RMI’s Director of Solutions underlines that offshore organisations should consider the facilitation of health and safety briefings, wellness programmes and fitness campaigns, and health and hygiene inspections to reinforce the health of the workforce.

Based on Knott’s views, on-site medical services should be considered as more than a fail-safe for medical emergencies and be seen as an injury and illness mitigation resource, as a medical services provider experienced in offshore environments should be able to offer these services.

Since calling 911 in an offshore environment is not always an option, Knott elaborates that any on-site medical support should offer both medics and the relevant resources. Moreover, RMI’s Director of Solutions underscores that all onsite medical providers should be thoroughly assessed during the recruitment process to ensure “they have the experience, training, licenses, temperament, and fitness to work offshore; with the self-motivation and ability to work independently in isolated environments.”

“Even with the best preventative measures in place, illness and injury are inevitable in offshore environments, and so being prepared for medical emergencies is essential. The two main things that companies can put in place to assist with this preparation are on-site medical support, and a Medical Emergency Response Plan (MERP),” outlined Knott.

Furthermore, RMI’s Director of Solutions says that all onsite medics need to be supported with the right degree of medical sufficiency to provide the highest quality support, which often includes project management to ensure the proper execution of all services; clinical governance to ensure all policies, procedures, and protocols are in place and quality care is being delivered; topside support to ensure that medical providers have around-the-clock access for physician consultations; and equipment and supplies, so that, the medics have access to the tools of their trade.

In addition, Knott states that medics should interact regularly and build relationships with workers onsite to become trusted members of the team, as this would ensure that if injuries or illnesses do occur, workers would seek their support.

“When RMI provides on-site medical support, its medics aim to render care on-site when possible. However, in some cases medical evacuation is necessary. Having a MERP, which includes lists of local medical facilities, communication plans in the case of a medical emergency, and resources for medical evacuation, can help organisations to facilitate this all smoothly,” added Knott.

To illustrate the frequency of medevacs, Offshore Energy looked at the number of times U.S. Coast Guard’s assistance was required during March 2023 in the offshore oil and gas sector. The most recent case entailed an evacuation via helicopter of a crew member from one of Allseas’ vessels located approximately 15 miles offshore Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

Prior to this, a 28-year-old male worker was medevaced from a BP-operated platform located approximately 130 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Additionally, a 37-year-old male worker was medevaced from an undisclosed oil platform located approximately 40 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. All three cases were recorded in March 2023 and hammer home the importance of MERPs.

“Preparation, prevention, and comprehensive on-site access to medical care can help ensure that offshore workers remain safe and healthy and receive appropriate medical care when the need arises. All this can help ensure a resilient and sustainable operation as the offshore energy industry evolves and faces new challenges,” concluded Knott.