Changing minds: Offshore sector squares up to invisible mental health crisis

The offshore oil and gas industry is stepping up efforts to tackle mental health issues within its workforce amid an escalating mental health crisis largely fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing cost-of-living crisis. In May, nearly 200 representatives of leading organisations in the energy industry joined together to establish a charter aimed at improving the mental health of North Sea workers. 

The charter, championed by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), includes contributions from operators, contractors, psychologists and third-party sector organisations, and provides a framework to improve the mental health and safety of workers across the industry, detailing explicit actions, processes and improvements for all charter signatories to follow.