POOR management lies at the heart of a Norwegian sector accident on the drilling rig, Deepsea Bergen, on February 28, when an offshore worker suffered serious crushing injuries.
Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority said its investigation found five “non-conformities” with regulations related to the accident:
Deficient management understanding of risk and risk assessment.
Deficient planning, organisation and execution.
Deficient communication.
Deficient procedures.
Deficient instructions.
It said that the owner and operator of the rig, Odfjell Drilling, had been asked to provide, by September 1, an account of how these failings came about and what remediation steps were being taken. In addition to its own investigation, the Norwegian police have asked the PSA for assistance in its investigation of the incident.
It was during activities on the rig’s drill floor that a person suffered crushing injuries to the chest and abdomen while working on an access platform on the roof of the driller’s cabin. The incident occurred while the Deepsea Bergen was working on contract to Marathon, drilling in the Volund field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea (block 24/9).
Work being done at the time was the installation of a fastening device on the grating on the driller’s cabin while using a lower racking arm (LRA) to prepare the core drill-string for the next well operation. The injury occurred when the worker was crushed between the railing on the access platform and the back of the LRA being operated.