Health and safety officials welcomed news that the number of offshore oil and gas leaks that could lead to a major incident continues to fall.

But the industry must not become complacent, they warned.

Steve Walker, the head of HSE's Offshore Safety Division (OSD), welcomed the continuing decline in hydrocarbon releases but expressed regret at the first work related deaths to be recorded in HSE's statistics for the offshore sector since 2007.

Provisional figures released in HSE's Offshore Safety Statistics Bulletin revealed a reduction in the total number of major and significant hydrocarbon releases in 2011/12 to 52 compared to the previous year's total of 73. The number of minor hydrocarbon releases also fell from 93 to 75. In both cases these were the lowest figures in the last ten years.

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Mr Walker said: "While we welcome the continued downward trend, industry will need continued focus to achieve its target of halving the number of hydrocarbon releases by April 2013.

"The deaths of offshore workers are always unacceptable. Although those in 2011/12 are the first ones to be recorded in our statistics since 2007, they are a tragic reminder that this is a high risk industry and safety must remain a priority."

Mr Walker added that companies should work harder to make sure maintenance is completed quickly.

He said: "Inroads to reducing the backlog of safety critical maintenance show little movement. This requires sustained improvement of planned safety critical maintenance programmes. The industry needs to address this area and ensure issues are tackled in a timely manner."

(NE/GK)