UK Offshore Weight Cap May Cost Hundreds of Workers Jobs
Hundreds of offshore workers could lose their jobs when a new weight limit starts next week, the industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has warned. Its guidelines, in force from November, require everyone working offshore to weigh less than 124kg (19.5st).
OEUK says the cap is a safety measure. It is the most a person can weigh when being winched from a platform into a helicopter during an emergency evacuation.
The number of workers over the limit has fallen from about 2,200 in early 2025 to 840 earlier this year. OEUK says it is "delighted" so many have complied. It still estimates that 241 to 300 workers will be above the limit when the rule takes effect.
Jabs and fridges
Since announcing the policy in 2025, OEUK says it has helped operators put measures in place to slim down their offshore workforces. Graham Skinner, its health and safety leader, said these included "wide uptake" of GLP-1 weight-loss jabs. Some employers installed extra fridges to store the medication. He said the jabs are one measure among several and not a "blanket solution".
Skinner said some of those over the limit may no longer work offshore in the UK, or may be moved to onshore roles by their employers. "We are hoping that the vast majority of workers will have found a way through this," he said on Thursday. But if someone has chosen not to lose weight, he said, "there will be a route out of employment as well."
"Ultimately, it's a safety policy, and it is related to capability," he said. "If somebody cannot mobilise for their work because they're over the weight limit, then they will not be able to work." In the worst cases, he said, that would mean somebody losing their job.
He said the 124kg figure comes from helicopter winches, but a cap would benefit "all aspects" of life-saving equipment on platforms. It could also reduce medical evacuations for health reasons such as heart attacks and strokes, which made up 78% of all medivacs in 2025.
In the past the industry adapted equipment instead, making lifeboats larger and sturdier and seating larger workers next to the biggest windows on helicopters. Skinner said that only addressed "certain symptoms".
Union pushback
The RMT union is concerned the rule could give employers a "convenient mechanism" to sack workers without proper redundancy procedures or financial compensation. General secretary Eddie Dempsey said safety must be the overriding priority, but policies must be proportionate, evidence-based and developed through meaningful consultation with the workers they affect. The RMT is calling on OEUK to withdraw the policy and consult trade unions on a fair approach to offshore safety.
Source: The Independent