Altor Risk Group project manager Tom Marchbank said the company's Offshore Crisis Intervention Skills Course was developed to address a lack of knowledge among offshore staff about how to deal directly with a person in crisis.

"There is an acknowledgement from companies that incidents had occurred on their installations in the past," Marchbank, a former police officer, said. "Sadly, some tragic incidents may have been prevented if there had been appropriate intervention."

The three-day course was devised by former police negotiators and covers topics such as suicide intervention, communication skills, use of force, demands, deadlines and threats, working with an intermediary, influencing behaviour, protestor response and police expectations.

Altor says the course culminates in a half-day exercise where delegates put their newly acquired skills to the test in a mock emergency situation.

Altor managing director Jim Walker said: "Major events in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico have underlined the importance of planning for and testing various scenarios to ensure that an organisation is well-equipped to deal with any potential situation."

Altor was established in 2010 in Aberdeen and also has offices in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Perth.

It says it has worked with companies such as Apache, BP, Shell, Perenco, Premier Oil, Maersk Oil, Pertamina and CNOOC.