Oil union alarmed at unreported accidents

An oil union has claimed there is a growing number of unreported accidents happening offshore.

The Offshore Industry Liaison Committee claimed several workers had returned onshore with broken arms and toes in the past few weeks alone.

The union said a fear of disciplinary action and commercial pressures had led to injuries not being logged.

General secretary Jake Molloy said many staff feared they would be sacked if they reported an injury.

Molloy also claimed companies themselves were not reporting injuries because of commercial pressures to have a clean safety record.

But industry members have denied that there are more accidents and insisted the problem of under-reporting was not widespread.