Piper Alpha and Family Liaison

On 6th July 1988, an explosion occurred on the Piper Alpha oil platform in the North Sea off the coast of Aberdeen. 165 of those working on the platform tragically lost their lives, as well as two rescue workers who become trapped. 

One of our directors and Care for People expert, Rona Grimmer, worked on the Police response to the incident and speaks about how crucial Care for People services are to families following such devastating incidents:

''Part of my role within Grampian Police’s General Enquiries Department, during the Police response to the Piper Alpha incident, was to support the identification and subsequent family reconciliation processes – i.e. ensuring families of those workers who lost their lives were reunited with their loved ones.

At that time in 1988 there was no formal Family Liaison Officer role within policing. It was to be a further 10 years before this critical investigatory role was introduced in Grampian Police. The purpose of the role was as the single point of contact for a family, in effect a conduit between the family and the police investigation. In addition, the role also aimed to support and assist families with information as well as sign posting them to other 3rd sector support services which could help them.

My experience, over the almost 25 years I was involved in this specialism, was that the role of Family Liaison Officer was essential to any investigation. More importantly, it was a lifeline to families who were often in crisis having suffered the loss of a loved one suddenly through tragic circumstances.
 
Having retired 10 years ago, I have trained hundreds of people from various companies within the oil and gas industry to effectively perform this role alongside Police Scotland to support families. Delivering the Family Liaison Representative training is one of the favourite parts of my job, as I know how important it is to families.''