Memorial services yesterday for the 167 men who died in the fireball which engulfed the Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea marked the 20th anniversary of the world's worst offshore disaster. With one voice, however, the bereaved families and the 61 survivors say that the memorial they want is for safety to be prioritised so that there is minimal chance of such a tragedy ever occurring again.

Memorial services yesterday for the 167 men who died in the fireball which engulfed the Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea marked the 20th anniversary of the world's worst offshore disaster. With one voice, however, the bereaved families and the 61 survivors say that the memorial they want is for safety to be prioritised so that there is minimal chance of such a tragedy ever occurring again.

Since the disastrous day of July 6, 1988, there have been important changes to the safety regime as a result of recommendations from Lord Cullen's inquiry. They include transferring the responsibility for offshore safety to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), encouraging greater workforce involvement and changes to the design of offshore platforms. However, a report by the HSE last November warned of serious (and illegal) shortcomings on safety, including mechanical ones such as the failure of the fire-fighting deluge water systems. This was an alarming reminder to families of offshore workers of the narrow line between danger and disaster. It prompted Health and Safety Commission chair Judith Hackitt to say that "corporate memory" had been lost since the disaster, and that two decades of changes of personnel and ownership had allowed the findings of the Cullen Inquiry to be forgotten. In particular, she said, there was a failure to recognise that when a "non-safety-critical" plant is degraded, that can make it dangerous in the event of a major accident.

What this points to (in line with persistent complaints from whistleblowers) is a culture in which those who challenge the safety regime become "NRB" or "not required back". Last week the Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, ordered a review into the steps taken following the HSE investigation. The timing may have been prompted by the anniversary, but if Lord Cullen's recommendations are no longer uppermost in the minds of a new generation working at all levels in the oil industry, any tendency towards complacency must be sharply and effectively challenged.

As the price of oil reaches a new high, there is an increased incentive to continue extraction from one of the most dangerous and unforgiving environments in the world.

Yesterday's grim anniversary is a timely reminder that no-one working there, whether individual worker or multinational company, can afford to compromise on safety. Not just 20 years on, but for as long as oil extraction continues in the North Sea, the lessons of Piper Alpha must not be forgotten.