Oil and gas safety fears 'from quarter of senior managers'

A quarter of senior managers in the oil and gas sector believe safety management is not effective, according to a study.

The report - from the risk management firm DNV GL - questioned more than 800 business leaders, middle managers and technical specialists in the UK and around the world.

It found that more than a third - 38% - felt safety management was effective.

However, 26% of the respondents disagreed.

The 'State of Safety' research also showed that 46% of senior professionals in the sector who took part believed there had been underinvestment in inspection and maintenance of infrastructure and equipment in recent years.

It comes the week after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said there were too many oil and gas leaks, and called for companies to take action.

The regulator said some had come "perilously close to disaster" and that more needed to be done to tackle them.

DNV GL's oil and gas chief executive officer Liv Hovem said: "The industry's strong focus on cost control must continue in the long term for oil and gas to remain competitive and play an increasingly important role in the energy transition.

"However, our research confirms the sector's clear belief that cost control must never come at the expense of safety."

Deirdre Michie, chief executive of industry body Oil and Gas UK, said: "The offshore oil and gas industry is always looking for improvements in safety management, and Oil and Gas UK fully supports that ongoing effort.

"There is no room for complacency in major hazard industries."

The sector covers all stages of the industry from exploration to refining.