Workers complain that the government isn't giving them much help when it comes to keeping them safe on offshore petroleum platforms.

The Senate held inquiry hearings into worker safety in the offshore petroleum industry in Victoria this week, focusing on the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).

"From our membership, NOPSEMA is seen as a toothless tiger; it's seen as a body that doesn't engage with health and safety representatives," said Peter Mooney from the Electrical Trade Union. 

Mooney and other witnesses were unhappy with NOPSEMA's reaction to the 2015 fire on Esso's West Tuna platform.  That fire burned for nine hours, forced the evacuation of non-essential staff, and plunged the platform into darkness.

"I was not asked to provide any evidence and I was there on the night, and I was never interviewed," said Dane Coleman, one of crew members who battled that fire.

NOPSEMA "relied on Esso's investigation" of the incident, said Mr. Mooney.

The regulator's chief executive officer Stuart Smith denied the union's claim, claiming: "We don't hesitate to take action against industry when it's warranted."

But Rodney Gunn from NOPSEMA's Victorian office admitted that his investigators didn't get to the West Tuna platform until "about three to four months after" the fire.

The Australian Workers Union says the casualisation of the workforce that has created a culture of fear that discourages workers from reporting safety incidents.