Shetland Gas Plant ordered to prove shift patterns are safe

The plant at Sullom Voe takes North Sea gas and pipes it to the national gas grid

The operators of the Shetland Gas Plant have been given four months to show its shift patterns for workers are safe.

The Health and Safety Executive has served the improvement notice on the French oil company Total.

It said Total had failed to demonstrate that it had properly assessed potential fatigue risk arising from current or proposed shift patterns at Sullom Voe.

Shift patterns at the plant have also been subject to an ongoing industrial dispute with the Unite union.

The HSE said no specified risks to safety had been identified, but the workers involved were employed in environments where mistakes could lead to major accidents.

Total has been given until the end of August to carry out the risk assessment and mitigate any threat to the safety of workers or the environment that may arise.

Major incidents

The current shift pattern of two weeks on, three weeks off rota and proposals to change that to three weeks on, three off, three on, four off rota, are to be assessed.

The Unite union welcomed the report and said it showed Total "must take immediate steps to scrap these new rotas and return to safe working practices".

Spokesman John Clark said: "We have consistently highlighted that issues such as ill-health and fatigue induced by long hours and periods of work could result in major incidents.

"However, Unite's concerns have been completely ignored by industry and new contracts have instead been imposed on the offshore workforce."

A spokesman for Total said the company was "committed to ensuring that shift working patterns at the Shetland Gas Plant (SGP) are safe".

Fatigue risk

He added: "We are in the process of thoroughly assessing the proposed work patterns in accordance with our procedures, with a focus on the specific conditions at the SGP and on fatigue risk management.

"Provided fatigue risks are adequately controlled, we believe that the proposed work pattern will enhance safety.

"We will continue to work with the HSE, our safety representatives and affected personnel in order to ensure that any fatigue risks are adequately managed and controlled."

The Shetland Gas Plant is said by operator Total to be capable of supplying energy to two million homes.

The plant at Sullom Voe began processing gas from the vast Laggan and Tormore fields, north west of Shetland, in February 2016.

A pipeline takes the gas to the UK mainland and into the national gas grid.