Audit reveals major breaches in Equinor North Sea oilfields

Equinor has come under fire after an audit by the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) revealed several safety and regulation breaches at the Grane oilfield in the North Sea.

The audit was carried out between May 25 and June 18 and revealed a number of regulatory breaches conducted at the oilfield, including poor management of potential health hazards for its workforce.

The PSA found that Equinor did little to prevent injury and had a high chance of sickness absence owing to poor regulation.

This comes after Equinor has already closed four oil fields owing to sector strikes, showing this to be a rough year for the Norwegian company.

Five key breaches were identified: poor management of health risks at the field; management of the risk of musculoskeletal disorders; management of the physical and chemical working environment; general competence and the training of safety delegates.

In response, the watchdog gave the oil corporation a notification of order to review its systems and practices for creating a safe workplace. This also comes with a preliminary follow-up audit to make sure the regulations are being adhered to.

It stipulates that the appropriate measures must be undertaken in a systematic manner within the time frame, including a mapping of working environments, comprehensive risk assessments are made at a group level and that the measures are undertaken and verified by qualified personnel.

The notification of order also requires Equinor to fully review working environments at the Grane site.

The deadline for this order is February 26 2021.

The oil giant must now comply with the criticisms in the guide, while also addressing how the other non-conformities mentioned in the order are to be handled.

The PSA has requested a response to the non-conformities by December 21.

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