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2. Health Performance
Each year, doctors who carry out medical assessments of offshore oil and gas employees globally, as per
Oil & Gas UK guidelines, are asked to submit a statistical return, indicating the total number of medicals they have
performed and the number of cases in which individuals have failed to pass their assessments. The figures for
the past few years are shown below. These illustrate a clear and continuing upward trend in the total number of
medicals performed worldwide, which has exceeded 100,000 in each of the past two years and has almost trebled
in less than a decade. Meanwhile, the failure rate has been fairly constant, between one and 1.4 per cent overall.
Figure 1: Examining Doctor Statistics
2010
2014
2015
Number of Examining
Doctors
796
968
1,047
Number of Countries with
Oil & Gas UK-accredited
Examining Doctors
37
50
55
Year
Total Number of
Medicals Conducted
Percentage of Medicals Failed
(Total Number)
2008
39,780
1.3 (503)
2009
48,941
0.2 (108)
2010
56,850
1.4 (784)
2011
59,900
1.1 (665)
2012
93,219
1.4 (1,284)
2013
113,006
1.2 (1,333)
2014
118,597
1.1 (1,285)
The most common causes for individuals failing these assessments are listed below and they have been very
consistent over a number of years. Cardiac disease remains the most common cause, accounting for 13 per cent
of all failed medicals in 2014.
Figure 2: Top Six Causes for Failing Medical Assessments
2010
2013
2014
Cardiac
Cardiac
Cardiac
Diabetes
Hypertension
Hypertension
Weight
Diabetes
Weight
Psychiatric
Weight
Diabetes
Hypertension
Dental
Drug Abuse
Drug Abuse
Drug Abuse
Dental
Precise figures are not yet available for the past year, but based on historic figures, cardiovascular disease
(heart attacks and, increasingly, strokes) is likely to remain the leading cause for medical emergencies on
offshore installations.
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