North Sea oil workers have been told they must lose weight if they want to keep flying offshore, or face losing their jobs.
Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) said that from November next year, the maximum weight for a clothed worker should be 124.7kg, so they can be winched by a rescue helicopter in an emergency.
A coastguard helicopter can carry a maximum of 249kg, but also has to account for the weight of the average rescue worker (90.3kg), their kit (5kg) and a stretcher (29kg).
The OEUK told The Independent that some 2,277 offshore workers weighed above the 124kg limit last year.
The industry body said it had decided on the weight limit after an “extensive” review over the last two-and-a-half years, “thoroughly” considering alternatives to a weight limit.
Graham Skinner, the health and safety manager at OEUK, said the organisation will be “working really hard” over the next 12 months to ensure affected workers can lose weight.
Mr Skinner told the BBC that he could not rule out the possibility that the new safety policy would lead to job losses.
“That would be the absolute worst-case scenario,” he said, explaining that employers will now have a responsibility to try to support their workers to fall within the limit by next year.
He said it was important that a clear message be conveyed, serving as an “impetus for everyone to get behind the policy and lose weight in time for November next year”.
Those who do not meet the 124kg limit “will not get their medical and that will preclude them from getting on a helicopter”.
The decision was made to announce the policy this year so that employers could prepare their staff, offer support and address concerns within the workforce.
The policy itself was developed in response to concerns highlighted by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and will come into effect on November 1, 2026.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Skinner said there were a further 2,500 offshore workers who were “below the weight limit but might need some additional support and weight management”, meaning “5,000 is the total number of people who might be affected to some lesser or greater extent” by the policy change.
John Boland, the regional officer at the Unite union, told the BBC that “there can be support put in” to stop people from losing their jobs.
“The biggest concerns we have had are from individuals that are naturally larger built and in some cases are extremely fit but are above that actual weight limit.
