Question reference: S6W-01719
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 23 July 2021
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Current status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 August 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00962 by Michael Matheson on 20 July 2021, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding what analysis it has carried out concerning at which stage of their journey oil and gas workers who fly to and return directly from an overseas installation are at greatest risk of COVID-19 infection; for what reason it did not provide this information in its response; whether it will now confirm whether it has undertaken such an analysis, and whether it will provide any other information it has on this matter.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not carried out specific analysis on this issue.
There are complexities and a variety of international travel possibilities within the global international oil and gas industry. Risk of Covid infection for workers travelling to and from installations on the UK continental shelf (UKCS) cannot be attributed to any single factor, but a comprehensive range of infection control measures has been implemented to reduce this to as low as reasonably practicable.
The regulation of occupational health and safety is reserved to the UK Government. Statutory responsibilities for enforcement in the offshore oil and gas industry lies with the Health and Safety Executive.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 employers have a statutory duty to protect the health and safety of their employees, to undertake appropriate risk assessments and to put in place appropriate mitigations.
The Scottish Government has no statutory involvement in workplace health and safety regulation.