John Andrews, lawyer with the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, testifies at the Wells inquiry in St. John's on Tuesday. (CBC)

It's the responsibility of oil companies to ensure the safety of their offshore workers, a lawyer for the board that regulates Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry said Tuesday.

John Andrews, lawyer for the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, spoke in St. John's at the Wells inquiry into offshore helicopter safety.

"The board does not have the responsibility for safety," Andrews said. "It has an interest in safety of workers by way of its oversight role and its verification role, but worker safety is the responsibility of operators."

Andrews said the offshore board approves and audits safety plans for workers but it doesn't create or execute them.

The inquiry continued in St. John's on Tuesday with testimony from offshore petroleum board officials.

Andrews, the manager of the board's legal and lands department, outlined the federal-provincial legislation that governs the offshore industry and described where the oil industry is operating now.

The offshore board's chief safety officer said helicopter travel is included in the safety plan that must be submitted to the board before it authorizes an offshore operator.

"The board does not guarantee the safety of workers in the offshore," Pike said. "The operators are responsible for the protection and safety of workers and the environment. It is their duty. The board's role is not to assume responsibility for creating and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace. It does though make sure that the operator creates and maintains such as environment."

Pike is expected to continue his testimony at the Wells inquiry Wednesday.

Representatives from oil companies that operate Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore industry are expected to testify later in the inquiry.

Monday, on the first day of the inquiry, officials announced that the sole survivor of the Cougar helicopter crash, Robert Decker, is scheduled to testify at the inquiry on Nov. 5.

The inquiry will make recommendations about how safety for offshore workers can be improved.

Robert Wells, the retired Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court judge, is expected to file his report and recommendations on March 31.