Basic Offshore Safety & Emergency Training Standards in the UK Sector

In April 1995, the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) changed the basic offshore safety & emergency training standards which are mandatory for most people working offshore in the UK sector. Two years later, they commissioned Rowanhill to evaluate the effectiveness of these changes.

All training evaluation exercises are difficult. This one was particularly unusual, in that the training programmes give people skills and knowledge that they should never have to use. It was also sensitive in terms of industrial relations.

We applied a ‘responsive’ style of evaluation, based on interaction with respondents. In the absence of assessed outputs, and given the significance of perceptions and attitudes, it was not appropriate to apply quasi-empirical methods. There were 10 phases to data-gathering for the project:

Desk research to establish quantitative data on training activity.
Discussion sessions with small groups of offshore personnel.
Structured interviews with representatives of duty holders.
Structured interviews with a sample of employer bodies, contractors, and suppliers, supplemented with a postal questionnaire.
A confidential postal questionnaire of a random sample of course delegates.
Review of in-house evaluation exercises conducted by employers.
Interviews with trades union officials and representatives of regulatory authorities.
A confidential postal questionnaire issued to over 900 offshore safety representatives.
Visits to a cross-section of UK training centres.
Review of research literature.

This was one of the most extensive and successful consultation exercises ever undertaken by UKOOA. We reproduce here the presentation that was distributed to all UK offshore installations afterwards. If you are interested in the full 46-page report, please contact us.

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