The introduction of the Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) Safe Weight Limit Policy from 1st November 2026 means that personnel exceeding a clothed weight of 124 kg will not be permitted to travel offshore.
This new industry regulation facilitates safer evacuation, rescue and emergency procedures for offshore installations.
At ESS, we identified the policy as a great opportunity to support our offshore colleagues and customers to enhance their health and wellbeing.
Working offshore brings unique challenges as our own employees and those we serve fulfil demanding roles while spending long periods away from home. As a foodservice and facilities management provider, enhancing colleague and customer welfare is a key part of what we do, so we’re ideally placed to support the industry with this transition.
We’re working closely with OEUK, industry bodies including Step Change in Safety and the recognised trade unions to ensure a smooth journey to implementation.
Supporting our people
The introduction of the policy means different things to our colleagues and it’s a challenging situation for some, so we’ve taken a sensitive, proactive approach which commenced last December, 11 months before the changes come into effect.
Following an initial briefing, we’ve developed a suite of resources to help those impacted achieve the safe weight required for them to keep working offshore, including:
- A bespoke e-learning module to provide information on the policy and links to a variety of support resources.
- Two team wellbeing challenges – Mapping the North Sea and Hydrate to Operate – which are encouraging participants to focus on their own health goals while enjoying the motivation of a collective target and a community around them.
Jennifer McGroarty, Head of HR – ESS Energy, Government & Infrastructure
These are in addition to the provisions already in place, including our Employee Assistance Programme, Aviva Digicare+ which gives access to GPs, health screening and nutritionist consultations, discounted gym memberships and a wealth of collateral from our nutrition and wellbeing team.
Anyone over 124 kg or in the policy’s restricted categories (120.1 kg–124 kg and 115 kg–120 kg) has been invited to additional meetings and offered further support, to navigate this change together.
Supporting our clients and customers
It was important to us to include the whole offshore community. As a foodservice and facilities management partner, we can assist our clients by helping members of their workforce who are impacted by the regulations, through our balanced food offer and educational resources that empower them to make healthier diet and lifestyle choices.
Since the start of the year, we’ve met with each of our clients to review their contracts and identify potential changes – for example, altering counter layouts to position vegetables and salads early in the customer journey or introducing additional pre-packed snacks like nuts and dried fruit to ensure a balanced retail offer.
With an estimated 95% of offshore workers already within the weight restriction limits of the new policy and many offshore roles being physical demanding, it’s been important to ensure that any changes to our offer do not impact overall choice and wellbeing.
Throughout the process, we’ve highlighted the wide variety of health and wellbeing resources available from our nutrition and wellbeing team, all of which are promoted to our customers. These don’t just look at food but highlight the impact of broader lifestyle factors like exercise, sleep and stress to build a holistic view.
Whether with our people or our clients, our conversations about the policy change have been welfare focused from the start. Engaging early, being open and transparent, and taking a positive, proactive stance have been key. We wanted to give people the knowledge, tools and confidence to take ownership of their own health, and we’ve received positive feedback on our approach.