The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
HSE looking to future
There is no doubt the UK’s energy market is changing rapidly. In 2020, renewable energy accounted for 43% of electricity generation. For the first time, clean power generated more electricity than fossil fuels.
Public demand has also shifted, with a new campaign highlighting that most UK adults want government spending on North Sea oil and gas to be directed to renewables.
The UK recently signed the £16 billion North Sea Transition Deal, the first for any G7 country, to shift its oil industry towards low carbon energy.
It is clear the next decade is going to see massive change in the offshore environment, including the rollout of CCS and hydrogen projects and electrification of offshore installations using offshore wind.
The scale and speed of growth in low carbon projects, coupled with the increasing diversity of the energy sector, will lead to a corresponding increase in health and safety risks:
New technologies may present previously unknown risks.
The high pace of innovation may result in sectoral competition for qualified staff, leading to potential skill shortages.
• Rapid expansion may mean that activity volumes are higher, increasing the potential for accidents.
• New entrants and entrepreneurs in the energy market may lack awareness of the risks and may face difficulties in quickly establishing good health and safety practices and risk management.
It will be crucial for duty holders to ensure the risks of health and safety are not overlooked under the pressures of pursuing green objectives.
In the context of renewables, the risks presented by inexperience have already been highlighted by the Health and Safety Executive, when Trevor Johnson, principal inspector, addressed a letter to trade bodies representing the offshore renewable energy industry expressing his concern “that in some sectors of the wind energy industry, improvements in health and safety performance has at best stalled if not reversed”.
He said: “In 2020, there have been a number of serious incidents both in the UK and elsewhere which could indicate any reversal may continue.”
HSE chairwoman Sarah Newton, speaking at the OGUK Conference in March, highlighted the HSE must be an enabler and a technical partner in the development of future energy technologies.
Newton stressed collaboration with experts and other regulators is essential to ensure HSE gets regulation of this area right first time.
Proactivity will be essential in establishing the key hazards and risks before they occur.
Her comments followed the publication in December 2020 of HSE’s report, Health and safety in the new energy economy: Meeting the challenge of major change.
It stated: “HSE’s overriding aim is not just to reassure the public, it is also to help all parties involved in developing, deploying, operating and maintaining the technologies to foresee hazards, recognise risks and implement appropriate management and control measures.”
In the context of hydrogen, HSE has undertaken a critical role in the safe development of technologies.
Through HSL (its technical lab service) it has been offering scientific support and capabilities to the government and industry to promote the safe deployment of a number of key hydrogen projects.