The importance of keeping safe, well and fighting fit.

COVID-19 has changed our lives forever; the way we work, the decisions we make, how we look after ourselves, our colleagues and loved ones. A real issue for the oil and gas industry both during COVID-19 and beyond is the loss of key workers.

In the more severe forms of COVID-19, the infection causes lung damage and in the most extreme cases, death. Lung damage for offshore workers could result in failure to pass medicals and lead to skills shortages that would be hard to replace.

The problem is compounded in that the offshore workforce is typically made up of a demographic that has single or multiple risk factors associated with the more severe forms of COVID-19. Evidence indicates the majority of people that end up in critical care are male, who fall into the overweight or obese BMI categories. Overweight, obesity and related conditions of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, are emerging as significant risk factors for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.

The demographic of the oil and gas offshore workforce is predominantly male, between the age of 40-65, many of whom are clinically overweight or obese. Statistics by Oil and Gas UK highlight only 15% of the 260,000 offshore workforce are under the age of 30 and the average age of the workforce is 42. According to the World Health Organisation, age 40 and upwards is when the risk of more serious forms of COVID-19 begin to rise sharply.

For the oil and gas industry, this present a major problem. Offshore workers are notoriously difficult to replace and require many years of intensive training to become skilled and experienced. Prior to COVID-19, the offshore industry had already experienced shortfalls in offshore manning levels and were struggling to recruit new personnel into the industry. If significant numbers of personnel end up infected with COVID-19 and fail their medicals because of lung damage this will inevitably lead to costly operational issues.

RigRun® aims to maintain current and future employment levels within the offshore industry with a digital health programme that specifically mitigates against modifiable risk factors of COVID-19. Not only does this help to protect manning levels and business resilience, but also ensures our nation has a continuous supply of energy.

Never before has health been such a key issue. Keeping fit will save lives and protect the industry from job losses. It will also keep heart disease and diabetes at bay as well as other risk factors for the more severe forms of COVID-19.

RigRun® has 20-years’ experience delivering health interventions in remote worksite industries and has been tried and tested on over 30,000 remote workforce personnel. Together we can protect your workforce, mitigate against sickness absence, maintain manning levels and ensure the continued supply of energy to UK homes, hospitals and transport.

Louise Martin Managing Director – RigRun