Under the auspices of North Sea Offshore Authorities Forum (NSOAF), the authorities around the North Sea Basin has audited the operating companies' operational management and its importance for the HSE standards.

Operational management (supervision) is considered to be a critical factor in maintaining high HSE standards, but is often assessed to have been deficient in investigation reports following serious incidents in the petroleum activities.

The result of the collaboration has now been summarised in a report, which has been distributed to the parties and licensees on the Norwegian shelf. The Petroleum Safety Authority recommends that the companies use the report in their improvement work.

NSOAF is a collaboration forum for safety authorities in countries with offshore petroleum activities in the North Sea.

NSOAF has cooperated to evaluate differences and similarities between the countries, and which approach the companies use in the development of operational managers and management functions in order to handle an increasingly complex risk situation.

Eight operating companies on the Norwegian, Danish, UK and Dutch shelves were audited. A total of 13 production facilities were visited in connection with the audit.

The facilities and companies were chosen according to various criteria to provide the best possible image of the activity in the North Sea. On the Norwegian shelf, ConocoPhillips (Ekofisk), Talisman (Gyda), BP (Valhall) and Norske Shell (Draugen) were audited.

In addition, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway, the State Supervision of Mines (the Netherlands), Health and Safety Executive (UK) and the Danish Energy Authority (Denmark) participated in the audit activities.

Tags: Petroleum Safety Authority