Weight-loss jabs help cut offshore workers over 124kg limit from 2,200 to under 300

Weight-loss jabs have become part of the offshore workplace in the UK North Sea, as a new maximum weight rule for helicopter travel takes effect this weekend. Anyone over 124kg (about 19st 7lb) in civilian clothing and footwear will be barred from flying to platforms covered by UK safety regulations.

The scale of the change is large. When the policy was announced in 2025, around 2,200 workers were over the threshold. Industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) says that figure fell to about 840 earlier this year, and is now projected at somewhere between 241 and 300. The BBC reports it as fewer than 250.

Weight-loss jabs and the fridge space to store them

OEUK health and safety manager Graham Skinner said the uptake of GLP-1 medications has been “wide”. On one platform, he said, 60% of staff had been taking them, and extra fridge space was provided to keep the drugs cool. He said workers appeared to have funded the medication themselves at first, though he thought some employers might now be helping with costs.

Skinner was careful to say the jabs are not a “blanket solution”. Gym equipment and healthier food options have also been part of the push. He also noted that offshore workers were using the drugs regardless of company policy, as many people elsewhere in society are. He described them as a potentially useful tool for someone with a lot of weight to lose.

Why 124kg, and why now

The limit is not arbitrary. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency warned that the rescue winches used in offshore emergencies cannot safely lift heavier people. The 124kg figure allows for the combined weight of the casualty, the rescuer, a stretcher and other kit. Skinner said the same winch is used on all search and rescue helicopters, so the limit is fixed by equipment rather than by company preference.

The average weight of offshore workers has been climbing for years, by almost 10kg since 2008. The industry previously adapted around that trend by building larger, sturdier lifeboats and seating bigger passengers next to the largest helicopter windows. Skinner described those steps as “addressing certain symptoms”. He argued that capping weight would help across life-saving equipment generally, and could reduce medical evacuations. Health-related cases such as heart attacks and strokes made up 78% of all medivacs in 2025.

Jobs at risk and union pushback

For those still over the limit, the consequences could be serious. Workers will declare that they are under the limit, and this will be checked at the heliport. Employers may offer onshore roles, and Skinner suggested some of those affected may no longer work offshore in the UK at all. He was blunt about the alternative: “if somebody has chosen not to lose weight… then there will be a route out of employment as well.”

The RMT union has criticised the policy. It says there was a lack of consultation, and it fears the rule could give employers a “convenient mechanism” to dismiss staff without proper redundancy procedures or compensation. General secretary Eddie Dempsey said nobody disputes that safety comes first, but that policies must be “proportionate, evidence-based and developed through meaningful consultation”. The union wants OEUK to withdraw the policy. An Aberdeen occupational health expert told the BBC earlier this year that some clients were “really stressed” by the rules and others had left the industry.

OEUK says most of the workforce is unaffected, and that those already under the limit are pleased with the change. Those with the most weight to lose, Skinner acknowledged, have had the greatest concerns. With the rule now in force, the question is how many of the remaining few hundred workers reach the limit, move onshore or leave the industry. Weight-loss jabs will probably play a part in the answer.

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