Falck offers to measure offshore passengers’ shoulders (UK)

Falck Safety Services (Falck) is offering offshore helicopter passenger measurement solutions, ahead of new regulations set to come into force in April in the UK.

The company, with training centres in Aberdeen and Teesside, will provide the service at both centres, ahead of new UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) deadlines. The new regulation will affect helicopter passengers travelling to and from offshore installations.

The measurement strategy which was first announced by Step Change in Safety in October 2014 following a review by the CAA, states that all passengers travelling offshore by helicopter will be required to sit in a seat where the nearest push-out emergency exit window is compatible with their body size.

As part of the new regulations, all helicopter passengers will now be measured by the width of their shoulders by specifically-trained trainers and medics, and those with a shoulder width of more than 55.9cm (22”) will be classed as extra broad (XBR), and will have to sit in helicopter seat next a window compatible with their shoulder size. Those with a shoulder width of 55.9cm or less will be classed as regular.

 

Related: Flying offshore in UK? Size matters.

Industry group, Step Change in Safety, has worked with the Passenger Size Work group and Dr Arthur Stewart, an expert on anthropometry at Robert Gordon University, to create the strategy and training based on a passenger’s shoulder width, which has been found to be the most reliable and appropriate measure of body size.

Do-you-know-your-place-in-offshore-helicopter

Falck, which globally delivers over 200 safety and survival training courses to more than 340,000 people each year, will have 31 trainers across both centres on hand to carry out measurements, as well as offering on-site measurement solutions to clients if required.

Managing director of Falck Safety Services UK, Colin Leyden, said: “Since the measurement strategy announcement, Falck Safety Services has proactively worked with the appropriate groups to ensure we are fully qualified to provide the highest quality of training in time to help meet the deadlines. As a firm that lives and breathes safety, it is our duty to ensure we have the products and capacity available to help our customers comply with these new requirements on time.”

“The new helicopter safety regulations means more than 60,000 offshore workers are in need of measurement, and we plan to work closely with our clients to ensure their employees can continue to travel safely to and from offshore installations. As from today, we are able to conduct the bideltoid measurements at both our UK sites, as well as offering to conduct measurements for clients on-site and delivering ‘train the measurer’ services which means customers can conduct the measurement internally, if required.”