Shell rejects North Sea rig health and safety fears

Shell has rejected claims that the health and safety conditions on its five North Sea oil rigs are in breach of current legislation.

In a leaked email, a manager of the rigs is thought to have attempted to warn the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of conditions on the rig which were described as "appalling".

The description is thought to be in relation to safety in terms of and in the number of hours that workers are supposedly being forced to work.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the manager writes in an e-mail: "Backlog on safety critical systems is at appalling levels by any standard and is an issue with the HSE."

He also puts: "Any contractor who refuses a reasonable request to work overtime. . . will be subject to relevant disciplinary procedures."

Last year the HSE issued a damning report saying that maintenance on many of the 100-plus platforms in the North Sea was "unacceptable", but did not name names.

Meanwhile, Shell announced it had made record profits of $27.6 billion (£14 billion).