Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which operational installations in the North Sea have a backlog of safety-critical maintenance work; and what the deadlines are for completion of such work in each case.

HSE does not collect the data in the form requested. In its latest Safety Report, the trade body Oil and Gas UK reported an average of 170 man hours backlog per installation for December 2013.

All duty holders are required to ensure plant is maintained in an efficient state, efficient working order and in good repair.

In developing its current offshore strategy, HSE consulted widely with operator, contractor and workforce representatives. All identified maintenance backlogs as a significant and persistent issue affecting safety as well as efficient and sustainable production. Inspection of maintenance and asset integrity is a central part of HSE’s offshore intervention strategy. This includes taking enforcement action where duty holders have failed to manage the risk from maintenance backlogs or have failed to identify risks arising from inadequate maintenance.