ABSTRACT
This chapter develops the methodology that has been used to examine the rationalities in play in different sectors of the regulated area of the North Sea offshore oil and gas industry from its inception until the late 1970s. An attempt has been made to demonstrate how the issue of health and safety at work offshore was observed or constructed in politics, industry management and engineering and by the regulators. The difficulty for engineers operating to a programme of conservative determinism was that in order to reduce the risk of loss, which in turn was felt to be the best way to reduce insurance premiums, they appeared to have to incur greater overall costs. The chapter suggests that this methodology will be used to consider the period from the beginnings of the UK offshore industry in the mid-1960s until the late 1970s. It shows the importance of the wider picture of the offshore industry and its impact on health and safety.
