Wind, Waves & Wells with Joe

The offshore 124 kg weight limit has generated plenty of debate.

But Diccen Sargent believes there is a much bigger issue that has received almost no attention: offshore lifeboats.

Diccen has spent decades working in technical and operational safety across the oil and gas industry, from FPSO projects and major accident risk to drilling, HAZOPs and offshore safety cases.

For around ten years, he has also been involved in research looking at the changing size and weight of the offshore workforce.

In this episode, Diccen explains why many lifeboats currently installed offshore were originally designed around much smaller personnel, why seat widths and seatbelt limits matter, and what could happen if those systems are ever required during a real emergency.

We also discuss the incoming 124 kg offshore weight limit, how some operators are already modifying their lifeboats, the difference between occupational safety and major accident safety, managed pressure drilling and the wider pressures facing the North Sea.

We finish by discussing energy security, the future of the UK energy industry and why Diccen believes the transition needs to balance environmental performance, affordability and security of supply.

A fascinating conversation about an area of offshore safety that deserves far more attention.

Steve Beedie returns to Wind, Waves and Wells for one of the most open and unscripted conversations we have recorded.

Steve speaks honestly about living with PTSD, his ongoing ADHD assessment, and why he has finally realised that helping everyone else cannot always come before helping himself.

We also discuss the mental health programme he delivered offshore with Equinor, why genuine offshore experience matters when trying to connect with crews, and whether short mental health courses are really enough to prepare someone for that responsibility.

The conversation then moves into the current state of the North Sea, the reality behind transferable skills, the lack of long term opportunities for offshore workers, and Steve’s decision to allow his offshore certificates to expire as he prepares for a new chapter in Australia and the mining industry.

This is a conversation about mental health, identity, career uncertainty, personal reinvention, and accepting that oil and gas does not have to be the end of the story.

No script. No polished corporate answers. Just an honest conversation between two people who have spent much of their lives offshore.

After almost twenty years in the energy industry, Finlay Johnston has seen the offshore sector from every angle.

 

Starting his career in commercial banking before making the jump into oil and gas, Finlay went on to negotiate major drilling contracts, build businesses across the world and play a key role in bringing the Ocean Great White back to work in the UK.

 

In this episode we discuss what really wins business in today's market, why relationships still matter more than emails, how the offshore drilling market is changing, and why mentoring the next generation is one of the most rewarding parts of his career.

 

We also talk about leadership, stakeholder management, negotiating multi million dollar contracts, the future of the North Sea, and the lessons Finlay has learned from working across Africa, the Middle East and beyond.

 

If you work in offshore energy, business development, drilling or leadership, there's plenty to take away from this conversation.

Don't forget to subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping the energy industry.

 

 

The energy debate has become incredibly tribal.

You're either pro oil and gas or pro renewables.

But does it really have to be that way?

In this episode, I sit down with Tessa Khan, Executive Director of Uplift, for an open discussion on the future of the UK's energy system.

The conversation covers offshore jobs, domestic manufacturing, Rosebank, energy security, electricity prices, climate responsibility and whether Britain is trying to transition too quickly.

While myself and Tessa don't agree on everything, this episode proves that respectful conversations between differing viewpoints are still possible and perhaps more important than ever.

Whether you work in offshore oil and gas, offshore wind or simply care about where the UK's energy future is heading, this is a discussion worth listening to.

Both started their careers as Army chefs before making the move offshore. Between them, they have spent more than two decades feeding crews across production platforms, drilling rigs and accommodation vessels.

We spoke about what really goes on behind the scenes in an offshore galley.

From feeding more than 550 people offshore, to dealing with food complaints, Christmas dinners away from home and the strange requests they receive on a daily basis, this was a brilliant conversation and one that highlights just how important catering is to morale offshore.

Because if there is one thing every offshore worker looks forward to during the day, it is meal times.

00:00 Intro
00:20 Introduction to Kev and Stephen
01:32 How two Army chefs ended up offshore
04:21 What an offshore chef actually does
06:46 Feeding more than 550 people offshore
08:41 Why offshore workers eat so much
11:35 The biggest challenges of offshore catering
13:27 Delayed boats and running out of fresh food
15:43 Drilling rigs versus production platforms
19:42 Why food is so important for morale offshore
23:35 The funniest requests they've received offshore
25:01 When meals go badly wrong
29:55 Reusing leftovers and reducing waste
30:26 Dealing with complaints and negative feedback
36:35 The offshore workers who can never eat enough
38:26 Why offshore food costs more than people think
40:42 The new offshore weight policy
43:57 Healthy eating offshore and changing habits
49:43 The smoked mackerel curry story
52:08 Birthday cakes and special requests
54:06 Favourite meals to cook offshore
55:35 Christmas and New Year offshore
58:02 Their proudest offshore moments

If you've worked offshore, I'd love to know:

How important is food to morale on board?

And what is the strangest meal combination you've ever seen someone put on a plate?

On 6 July 1988, 167 men lost their lives in the Piper Alpha disaster.

Joe Meanan was one of only 61 survivors.

In this episode of Wind, Waves & Wells, Joe shares his first hand account of life offshore in the 1980s, working on Piper Alpha, the night of the disaster, escaping from the platform and the lasting impact it has had on his life.

This conversation is not just about what happened on one night in the North Sea.

It is about offshore culture, speaking up, safety, leadership, lessons learned and why Piper Alpha still matters nearly four decades later.

As we mark 38 years since the disaster, this episode is being shared again as a reminder of the people behind the headlines, the families affected, and the lessons the industry must never forget.

Joe speaks openly about the conditions on Piper Alpha, the lack of direction after the first explosion, the decision to leave the galley, the moment he jumped into the sea, being rescued, survivor guilt, accountability and why the offshore industry changed forever after Piper Alpha.

If you work offshore, in oil and gas, renewables, marine operations, health and safety, or you simply want to understand one of the most important moments in North Sea history, this is a conversation worth hearing.

00:00 Introduction
02:08 Joe Meanen’s journey offshore
04:54 Offshore life in the 1980s
08:25 Working aboard Piper Alpha
09:37 Warning signs before the disaster
13:44 The day of 6 July 1988
16:10 Watching Caddyshack before the explosion
18:16 The first explosion
20:58 No alarms and no instructions
22:45 Realising something was badly wrong
24:28 Why people were afraid to speak up offshore
26:27 Was Piper Alpha heading for disaster?
31:32 Making it to the galley
35:21 The Mayday call
39:22 Leaving the safe area
41:14 The Tharos and the rescue attempt
43:20 The Tartan gas riser explodes
45:14 The decision to jump
47:37 Escaping into the North Sea
50:30 Being rescued
55:10 Getting back to Aberdeen
59:40 Living with survivor guilt
01:06:15 How Piper Alpha changed offshore safety
01:13:20 The inquiry and industry change
01:18:30 Why speaking up matters
01:23:15 What today’s offshore workers should remember
01:32:13 Did 167 lives save thousands more?
01:35:17 Life after Piper Alpha
01:37:20 Final thoughts

On the night of 6 July 1988, commercial diver Ed Punchard was working beneath Piper Alpha.

Within minutes, he found himself caught in the world's worst offshore oil disaster.

Unlike many accounts of Piper Alpha, this conversation comes from someone working below the platform, coordinating dive operations before escaping as the explosions tore through the installation.

Ed doesn't just describe what happened. He explains why it happened.

From the culture offshore during the 1980s, to the failures that led to the disaster, the rescue efforts aboard the Silver Pit, and the lessons the industry must never forget, this is one of the most detailed first hand accounts you'll hear.

Following Piper Alpha, Ed became heavily involved in improving offshore safety, worked alongside journalists and politicians to explain what had happened, wrote one of the earliest books on the disaster, and later built an award winning career as a filmmaker.

As we mark another anniversary of Piper Alpha, conversations like this remain just as important today.

If you work in offshore oil and gas, offshore wind, commercial diving, marine operations or simply want to understand one of the defining moments in industrial history, this episode is well worth your time.

00:00 Introduction
01:00 Becoming a commercial diver
02:01 The Byford Dolphin disaster
04:18 The accident that changed my career
05:38 Why I ended up on Piper Alpha
06:07 My job beneath the platform
07:15 What Piper Alpha was really like
08:37 How many trips I'd done before the disaster
09:05 My last shift before going home
09:59 The first moments of 6 July 1988
11:15 The first explosion
13:05 Finding the dive team
15:05 Racing to save a diver
17:34 No alarms. No escape route.
19:55 "We've got to get off."
21:55 Escaping beneath Piper Alpha
24:28 Watching the platform burn
27:22 The Tartan pipeline explodes
29:50 Watching the inferno from the Silver Pit
30:08 Why so many divers survived
32:13 Losing friends
33:35 What was going through my mind?
35:20 Turning chaos into action
37:18 Organising the rescue
39:09 Calling the rescue helicopters
41:11 The Claymore pipeline explodes
43:12 Hanging from the side of the Silver Pit
46:12 How Piper Alpha changed my life
48:13 Fighting for offshore safety
50:15 Writing one of the first books on Piper Alpha
52:45 Why I never went offshore again
01:06:40 Why podcasts matter
01:10:30 My proudest moment
01:15:20 Final thoughts

This week I'm joined by Rob Hinton.

Rob is a former Royal Navy mine clearance diver, commercial diver, military diving instructor and founder of HoldFast Elite and the HoldFast Schools Mission.

We discuss the realities of commercial diving, the risks that come with working underwater, near misses that still stay with him today, and why humour is often a vital coping mechanism in high risk industries.

Rob also shares stories from the North Sea, Norway, West Africa and the Middle East, along with the lessons he learned during nearly 15 years as a commercial diver.

We finish by discussing why he stepped away from offshore life and how he turned his diving experience into a mission focused on mental and physical resilience.

Topics include:

• Royal Navy diving

• Commercial diving offshore

• Near misses and diving incidents

• Offshore culture and dark humour

• Air diving vs saturation diving

• The realities of life offshore

• Mental health and resilience

• HoldFast Elite

• Building purpose after offshore life

0:00 Introduction

0:26 Who is Rob Hinton?

1:05 Learning to dive in South Africa

1:47 Why he joined the Royal Navy divers

2:31 Moving from military diving into offshore oil and gas

4:40 First impressions of offshore life

5:30 Why he left the North Sea to work worldwide

6:41 The reality of risk in commercial diving

7:45 Why dark humour is essential offshore

11:10 Near misses and dangerous situations offshore

12:54 The Norway incident that nearly became a fatality

14:57 Equipment failures and emergency situations underwater

16:54 The closest call of Rob's diving career

20:35 Air diving vs saturation diving

21:31 Why air diving can be riskier than people realise

22:20 What people misunderstand about commercial diving

23:33 The reality of life away from home

25:00 Burnout and the mental toll of offshore work

26:31 Why Rob stepped away from offshore diving

27:50 Creating HoldFast Elite

28:52 Using military training to improve mental resilience

31:13 Building the HoldFast Challenges

32:25 Looking back on life offshore

33:13 Advice for anyone considering commercial diving

34:35 Rob's proudest career achievement

35:39 Closing thoughts