The offshore aviation and the importance of training
Offshore aviation is the one responsible for the air transportation of passengers to vessels or oil platforms. As some companies that operate in this field, transporting on board workers, carry out risky activities, it is necessary the aircraft and its crew be also very well-trained to deal with any unforeseen event.
Offshore companies often deal with problems related to weather conditions, as well as breakdowns, air traffic problems, among others. Therefore, they work with preventive maintenance and the technique of redundancy to ensure increasingly safe procedures and systems with fewer failures.
Though, as it is not possible to eliminate totally the vulnerability of oil and offshore operations, it is essential to invest in training for everyone involved in this process. That is also valid for customers and partners, as they need to understand the risks of this type of activity and contribute to security. Unfortunately, oil companies often find difficult to interrupt their production activities to provide their employees training and this is something that can compromise the entire safety of the operations.
Training is essential for both platform team and the crew involved in the transport as both need to be aware of the risks and to know how to carry out a medical evacuation for instance or how to proceed in case of an accident and so on. It is important to emphasize that safety training should not take place on the ground but on the oil platforms properly, considering it is there where everyone will have to deal with the real climate conditions , such as strong wind, rain, aircraft approach, noise, and other circumstances.
In addition, it is also important to invest in training during the night so that everyone will know how to proceed under lighting breakdowns . Therefore, it is essential that petroleum operation managers understand the extent of the risks of this type of activity and do not focus only on goals but on the whole process especially , on safety.
The risks should never be underestimated as far as the price of an accident is very high. Human and equipment losses generate a lot of inconvenience, in addition to fines, contract losses, financial losses, audits, investigation, etc. Investing in training and in an organizational culture concerned with risk is something very advantageous and economical for all involved in this type of activity. Safety training is the most viable way to avoid accidents and maintain the quality of oil operations and offshore transport.
