As the UK offshore industry faces mounting operational and financial pressures, the ability to maintain robust safety systems is fundamental to preventing major accident hazards (MAHs) and protecting both people and the environment.
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Lee Hunter, Energy Market Lead at Bureau Veritas, will host a round table on June 26 to explore these issues in greater depth.
These challenges are multifaceted:
- Resourcing and competency gaps: Many operators are struggling with reduced onshore staffing levels and a lack of structured competency frameworks, particularly for process safety leadership. This creates significant risk as knowledge and skills gaps impact decision-making and operational oversight.
- Organisational change and loss of corporate knowledge: Frequent restructuring has led to role ambiguity and the erosion of institutional memory, making it difficult for teams to maintain a clear focus on managing MAHs.
- Contractor management: Insufficient integration of contractor personnel into safety frameworks remains a key barrier. Issues with onboarding and a lack of shared understanding of process safety expectations hinder performance across the board.
- Audit and assurance gaps: Current processes often fail to capture the true state of safety systems, leaving senior leaders without a complete picture of risk exposure. Without reliable insights, operators are limited in their ability to make informed decisions.
- The normalisation of deviance: Perhaps most concerning is an industry-wide trend of accepting the degradation of MAH barriers as “business as usual.” This complacency, compounded by risk assessment tools that are too subjective, can lead to serious consequences.
This event on June 26 event will play a key role in promoting collaboration across the sector, echoing the priorities outlined in the latest HSE report.
Bureau Veritas’ experts and auditors support operators by strengthening internal audit programs, sharing insights from their view of the supply chain, and offering practical guidance on improving management systems. Looking ahead, the team are exploring and hoping to implement how AI-powered tools can be used to analyse large datasets—enabling operators to prioritise limited resources effectively and detect emerging trends before they escalate into incidents.
Lee explains: “As process safety leaders, we have a responsibility to drive continuous improvement across the industry. The findings from the HSE’s Process Safety Leadership report highlight the need for greater collaboration between organisations. That’s why I’m excited to host this roundtable event – it’s an opportunity for key stakeholders to come together, share learnings, and work towards addressing the common challenges we’re facing. By pooling our expertise and taking a collaborative approach, I’m confident we can identify effective ways to strengthen process safety management and better protect our people and assets.”
Spaces for the round table event are limited, and with several leading operators and regulators already confirmed, it’s a chance to contribute to the conversation that could define the future of offshore safety.
You can contact Lee Hunter at lee.hunter@bureauveritas.com.
