HEALTH & SAFETY REPORT 2013
page 40
10.4 Size and Shape Project
Oil & Gas UK is working with researchers from Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) Institute of Health & Welfare
Research on a ground-breaking project tomeasure offshore workers’ body sizes with 3D scanners. The data will then
be used to inform all aspects of offshore ergonomics and health and safety, from space availability in corridors and
work environments to emergency helicopter evacuation and survival suit and safety equipment design.
The project will involve a systematic assessment of 3Dmeasurements froma sample of around 600 offshoreworkers.
The last body size survey of offshore workers was undertaken in the mid-1980s and since then the average weight of
theworkforce has risen by 19 per cent. As a consequence, the size and shape of the offshoreworkforce has increased
to an unknown level.
Understanding this is important as the currentworkplace is designed for personnel as theywereaquarter of a century
ago. Knowing the actual size of the workforce, together with size increments imposed by different types of clothing,
will enable space-related risk to be managed and future design for space provision optimised.
Funding for the project came from Apache North Sea, Centrica, CNR International, Maersk Oil UK, Nexen, Taqa,
Total and Tullow Oil. Top-up funding has also been received from the Technology Strategy Board via the Knowledge
Transfer Partnership. Data collection is already underway and the RGU project associate will update industry groups
on progress over the course of this two-year project.
3D Scanned Images of Offshore Workers
