RMT MARKS PIPER ALPHA DISASTER

RMTmarked the 35th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster which claimed the lives of 165 offshore oil and gas workers and two seafarers who were part of the emergency response on July 6, 1988.

RMT Scotland’s Regional Council laid a wreath at the memorial in Hazelhead Park, Aberdeen to mark the event.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that Piper Alpha remained a symbol of the threat poorly regulated, profithungry operators can pose to the lives of offshore workers and their families.

"The loss of those 167 workers resulted in much needed improvements to the laws governing health and safety offshore. One change was the legal requirement to establish safety representatives and safety committees elected by offshore workers.

“Today as we mark the 35th anniversary of the Piper Alpha tragedy, RMT again calls for a review of the effectiveness of the safety regime across the entire offshore and maritime sector.

"Booming profits and dividends for multinationals, the climate and cost of living crises, energy security, growing demands on a finite workforce, the safety maintenance backlog and the failure to deliver Just Transition policies all demand a robust and active safety representative structure to drive continuous improvement.

"Workers’ voices must be heard and the legacy of the 167 Piper Alpha victims must be the safety of all those working across the North Sea today.

“We ask that offshore employers allow all workers to take a moment today to remember the 167 offshore workers and the devastating effect that this disaster had on their families and communities, especially in northeast Scotland. The men of Piper are gone but will never be forgotten.

“This year, the anniversary of Piper Alpha again takes place during the UK government’s Maritime Safety Week. We once more call on Ministers to respect the memory of Piper Alpha’s victims by delivering the offshore safety culture of continuous improvement recommended in the Cullen Report into the disaster,” he said.