FIRST Minister Alex Salmond has said the physical and emotional scars caused by the Piper Alpha disaster "endure to this day".

He spoke as MSPs gathered to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on the North Sea oil rig on July 6, 1988.

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) held the parliamentary reception to commemorate the 167 who died.

Mr Salmond said: "The Piper Alpha disaster was a tragedy which not only claimed 167 lives but left physical and emotional scars which endure to this day for those who survived the events of that terrible night.

"It was also an event which has brought about fundamental changes – and huge improvements – to the way Scotland's offshore industry treats the health and safety of its workers.

"The greatest tribute we can all collectively pay to the 167 people who lost their lives is never to lose sight of how important this issue is, and to continue to strive together to make sure each and every worker who goes offshore is able to come home safely by making safety the industry's first priority."

Brian Appleton, one of three assessors in the Cullen Inquiry after the tragedy, said: "What we did was point out what we believed was the right way forward, a different way forward."

In all, 106 changes were recommended and all were accepted by the industry.

Mr Appleton added: "The safety management was transformed not by the inquiry but by the operators and the Health and Safety Executive working in the direction we had proposed. "

IOSH said it also wanted to highlight the current challenges to the safe extraction of North Sea oil and gas, including an ageing infrastructure, how to regulate new and emerging energy technologies and the exploration of deeper fields.