Heimdal incident: Condition of one worker ‘serious but not life-threatening’

The condition of one of the employees who were injured in yesterday’s work-related incident on the Heimdal platform in the North Sea is serious, but not life-threatening, Equinor informed on Friday afternoon. 

The Heimdal platform
The Heimdal platform; Credit: Øyvind Hagen/Equinor

As reported early on Friday, two Equinor employees were injured in a serious work-related incident onboard the Heimdal platform in the North Sea on Thursday, November 28. Following the incident, Norway’s offshore safety authority has launched an investigation with the purpose of finding direct and underlying causes of the incident.

In a follow-up statement on Friday afternoon, Equinor said that the other employee had suffered physical injuries that were not as serious as the colleague’s injuries. Both employees are receiving medical treatment in the hospital.

“This is a serious work-related incident that has strongly affected all of us. Our main priority now is to keep following up and supporting our injured personnel and their next-of-kin. Their colleagues on Heimdal, where the incident occurred, are also being taken care of and we have sent extra personnel offshore to support them,” said Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president for Development and Production Norway.

The two injured employees, a man (22) and a woman (19), were taken care of by health personnel onboard Heimdal and were transported to Haukeland University Hospital and Stavanger University Hospital.

The incident occurred as a result of an explosion of a portable nitrogen gas container onboard the platform and was reported to Equinor’s emergency response center at 18.06 on November 28. There were 70 people on board the platform when the incident occurred.

Equinor noted it was too early to say something about the cause of the incident. The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway and the police have traveled to the platform to start their investigations.

“We have also initiated an internal investigation and we are helping the police and other relevant authorities carry out their investigations in the best possible way,” said Nylund.

He added that a controlled production shutdown on Heimdal was planned to ensure proper follow-up of personnel onboard the platform.


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