The UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a safety notice on 8 August, warning of the potentially fatal risks posed by gangway accidents to offshore workers.
The alert follows the identification of serious hazards where motion-compensated gangways retract unexpectedly due to power failures or control system faults.
Such incidents can lead to workers falling from height, being struck by moving components, or sustaining severe injuries, including fatalities.
HSE is urging operators in the oil and gas and renewable energy sectors to review their gangway systems without delay.
A need for better equipment
Any equipment that cannot provide sufficient advance warning before automatic retraction must be taken out of service until appropriate safety measures are in place.
The requirements set out by HSE state that dutyholders must carry out technical risk assessments for all automatic gangway functions.
Control systems must be designed so that auto-retraction can only occur once it is confirmed that personnel are in a safe position.
If gangway operators are to manually override automatic retractions, this process must be supported by a thorough risk assessment.
The regulator has stressed the importance of effective warning systems that give clear advance notice before any hazardous movement takes place.
Dutyholders should review both the design of their gangways and the testing conducted on all automatic functions.
They must ensure that the control system will only trigger auto-retraction when there is no risk to workers.
HSE’s notice reinforces that safety reviews should consider every operational state under which automatic retraction might occur.
Where overrides are possible, the associated risks must be rigorously evaluated to protect offshore personnel, HSE advised.
Howard Harte, operations manager (Offshore Regulation) at the Health and Safety Executive, said, “Despite a previous safety alert in 2024, and the publication of industry good practice, we have become aware that gangways that provide insufficient warning before auto-retraction are still being used in the offshore oil and gas and renewables industry.
“This safety notice addresses continuing incidents where gangway failures have resulted in unexpected retraction without adequate warning to operators or personnel crossing between platforms. Workers have been left unable to move to safety or brace for sudden movement when systems fail.
“A warning by definition is advanced notice that a potentially dangerous event is about to occur. The purpose of the warning is to enable persons to make themselves safe before the event occurs. Audible and/or visual alarms that are triggered at the same time the gangway retracts are not considered to provide adequate warning to enable workers to reach safety.”
