Hundreds of North Sea workers could face a ban on offshore helicopter flights within months because they will be too heavy, it has been revealed.
From November 1, employees will be allowed to wear their clothes and shoes no more than 19.5 weight, so that they can be taken to safety in an emergency.
But industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) said as many as 800 staff are still too heavy for the looming weight limit rules and would no longer be allowed to fly.
There are fears this could result in job losses, and some workers have quit their jobs rather than face the prospect of losing weight.
But while there are still hundreds too heavy to fly under the new rules, it’s a sharp drop in the number over the threshold compared to the more than 2,200 workers who were above the limit when the rules were first announced last year.
Graham Skinner, OEUK’s health, safety and security manager, said there were ‘between 500 and 800’ employees who still had to work to fall off and those affected did their best to shed the pounds.
Helicopter deck crew helps oil rig workers disembark
He added: ‘It’s significantly less than we started and that’s a great sign. But we realize that hard work needs to be done to further reduce that number in the long term.
‘If an employee weighing more than 124 kg shows up at the heliport on November 1, he or she will not be able to go to work.’
Dr. Niyi Adeleke, a company doctor from Aberdeen, said while some workers tried to lose weight, not everyone made the effort.
He told BBC Scotland: ‘We have others who have decided to walk away and say this is no longer what they would want to do if they have to lose so much weight.
‘There are people who regularly exercise in the gym and say they do not want to trade this for a job.’
But he said in his experience this was only a small number, with most people working to lose weight.
The new safe weight limit policy came after the Maritime and Coastguard Agency warned that rescue winches used during offshore emergencies cannot safely lift heavier people.
The Coast Guard winch can hold a maximum of 39 pcs. This consists of the 19.5th maximum clothing weight of an offshore worker, plus the average 14th weight of a rescue worker, a 29kg stretcher and 0.8th of equipment.
Average body weight has increased over the past 60 years, and OEUK said the average weight of offshore workers has increased by almost 1.5 percent since 2008.
Mr Skinner said: ‘We have identified that there is a significant risk due to the weight of the workers.
‘That affects all aspects of their offshore work, from getting into the helicopter and traveling offshore to working in confined spaces, working at heights, but also in terms of how we can rescue them using the winch on helicopters.
“When we looked at all the risks, we felt it was important to make sure we didn’t have employees who we wouldn’t be able to save if the worst were to happen to them.”
