Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which statutory safety tests the Health and Safety Executive apply to an application from an operator in the offshore oil and gas industry for an increase in the occupancy rates for accommodation cabins on installations in the North Sea.

The statutory requirements for offshore sleeping accommodation in the UK offshore sector are laid down in the Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc) Regulations 1996, Regulation 12, Schedule 1, paragraph 61. “Any room designated as sleeping accommodation (a) must not be overcrowded; (b) must contain adequate space for the occupants to store their clothes; and (c) shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be occupied only by such number of persons as is consistent with reasonable privacy and comfort, having regard to the features of the room.”