ABSTRACT
Discipline is necessary in the interests of safety, in order to secure prompt and co-ordinated action by the crew on any occasion of emergence. Most of the criminal provisions contained in the Mineral Workings Act apply to the managers and owners of the rigs, or to the concession owners, rather than to the persons working on board. As for many other workers, discipline and dismissal are intricately connected as the principal method of discipline has always been summary dismissal. Many companies stipulate that dismissal will follow any injury or sickness that renders the worker incapable of performing his duties, even temporarily. British Petroleum had a clause which stated that dismissal would follow if the employee ‘wilfully neglects the company’s interest’. Although in many ways central to the analysis of the differences between offshore workers and shore-based workers, the provisions relating to discipline can be thoroughly appreciated only against the safety requirements and the command structure operative in the industry.
