Safety experts in the oil and gas industry issued a warning about cutting back on manpower and training in the offshore sector days before the Super Puma helicopter crashed into the North Sea.

The Times reports that the International Transport Workers Federation offshore taskforce group told an audience in London that reducing staff numbers could come at the detriment to worker safety in the offshore sector.

Norrie McVicar, chairman of the organisation, said that while the crash was not being attributed to a shortage in training and manpower, it served as a wake-up call to the industry that safety must be heavily scrutinised.

Robert Paterson, Oil & Gas UK's health and safety director, insisted that the country would not "lag behind" in training, as some experts have predicted.

"This industry will continue to invest directly in safety, asset integrity, skills and training throughout the economic cycle. Safety continues to be our top priority," he insisted.

An investigation into the cause of the crash is still ongoing and has been aided by the discovery of the black box flight recorder.

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