The notice, served in November, found a failure to "make suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to health and safety of persons that may arise as a result of having a non-safety critical element maintenance backlog".

The notice made its appearance following an announcement from BP last week that it would axe 300 North Sea jobs.

"RMT's concerns about the axing of staff when there is already a backlog of essential works throughout the energy industry are thrown centre stage in this enforcement notice," RMT general secretary Mick Cash said.

"BP are actually among the best performers in terms of maintenance backlogs so the fact the HSE felt that this enforcement action was necessary is a shocking reflection on the current state of the industry.

"How can we possibly expect to maintain the infrastructure, sustain production and keep workers safe while a slash and burn approach is being used by other operators, such as Marathon, who are among the worst performers?"

Unions in UK have been in crisis talks with oil and gas executives as the country's offshore industry bears the strain of plummeting oil prices.

BP has not been alone in its restructuring endeavours. The other big companies in the region have also wheeled out the chopping block recently, with Tullow, ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell all announcing their own cuts.