The Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) performs one of the most critical roles within the UK offshore Oil and Gas Industry. The OIM is responsible for the safety and well-being of all persons on-board and within 500 m of the installation whilst operating within a complex environment where multiple organisations and stakeholders interact. The persistence of major incidents in the industry highlights the importance of OIM competence in controlling emergencies, consequently the research aims to identify the potential barriers that can limit or prevent the proficient competence assessment of an OIM in this situation. The OIM role is investigated by qualitative analysis of key documents using hermeneutics to interpret text and to identify the potential barriers to effective competence assessment. Such analysis has historically been used within the domains of theology, business and law. Hermeneutics takes into account the cultural, historical and social environment at the time of issue of the document, and semiotics, i.e. the study of signs and symbols, their use and interpretation. Analysis is ongoing, however the six potential barriers to the effective competence assessment of OIMs in controlling emergencies identified to date are discussed. These barriers are associated with the multiple definitions of competence that exist in the UK and worldwide; the current predominance of competence assessment by observation; the lack of definitive competence requirements for trainers and assessors; the complexity in UK legislation and the interaction between UK Government departments and concerns associated with goal setting legislation when applied to competence assessment. The output from the research will assist industry Duty Holders improve the competence assessment of their appointed OlMs and allow safety engineers to consider the probable competence of an OIM in a given environment at a given point in time. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.