RJS you said - "How does the North Sea and GOM safety stats compare."
In spite of the attitude of North Sea pilots and crews for GOM'ers, and ignoring the fact that only 50 separate exams prevent Superman from getting a British pilot's license, and also understanding that cheap American operators employ poor instructors who can't even momorize Morse Code, the dolts!
The GOM has HALF the accident rate of the North Sea.
The truth is that statistics can be made to suit any purpose. The hours flown by offshore helos are statistically small and ANY accident can skew figures disproportionately. They are also highly reliant on the accident data collection being based on the same criteria worldwide - which they aren't.... an "accident" in one area may not even be considered an "incident" elsewhere. OGP (and Bob Williams in particular) do a great job in tracking accident rates and collectively trying to improve safety levels but it has to be remembered that the data gathering is not exactly like for like. To respond to your particular quote regarding the UK; the UK is not specifically covered by the OGP report, it is included as part of the "North Sea, thus an accident in the UK, Dutch, Danish or Norwegian sectors will be reflected in the N sea as a whole and not necessarily reflect the rate of an individual country. For the record, the ONLY (touch wood as ever) fatal offshore accident in the UK sector since 1992 was the one caused by an in-flight rotor blade failure on anS76 in July 2002.
I do not see any benefit in a X-Atlantic peeing contest when it comes to discussing safety but believe the impression your post gives should be put into better perspective.