Offshore Safety: Improving Injury Rates May Be Masking Continued Fatalities

Improving injury rates are masking the continued threat of fatal accidents across the offshore marine contracting industry, according to the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) after its latest Annual Safety Statistics Report revealed fatalities more than doubled despite overall safety performance improving.

The report covers more than 1.02 billion working hours submitted by 167 contractor members. While traditional safety indicators continued to improve during 2025, fatalities rose from three to seven (four of them offshore) prompting IMCA to warn that injury frequency rates alone no longer provide a complete picture of risk.

Although the industry’s Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) fell from 0.30 to 0.27 and the Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR) reduced from 1.10 to 0.98, IMCA says those encouraging figures cannot be viewed in isolation when workers continue to lose their lives.

“Every fatality represents a person, a family and a workforce affected by loss. While the continued improvement in injury rates is encouraging and reflects the hard work of our Members, these figures demonstrate that serious harm risks remain present despite improving injury statistics," said Mark Holmes, Safety and Security Manager at IMCA.

“Safety performance should no longer be judged primarily by injury frequency rates, but by