Irregularities spotted during Alvheim risk factor management audit

Norwegian offshore safety body, the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA), has found several safety issues during an audit of Aker BP’s management of risk factors on the Alvheim field off Norway. 

The PSA said on Wednesday that the audit identified five non-conformities and one improvement point.

Namely, the non-conformities concerned the management of the working environment, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, noise exposure harmful to hearing, benzene exposure, and information and training on occupational health and safety.

The improvement point is related to the employer’s duties toward employees other than its own.

The objective of the audit, conducted from August 23 to September 7, was to check whether the company’s management of change processes, working environment risk, and arrangements for genuine employee participation complied with the regulatory requirements.

The PSA added that the audit showed that changes resulting from the integration process at Aker BP have provisionally had limited influence on the Alvheim FPSO, but the integration has led to new procedures which may be difficult to find out about.

The Alvheim operating organization established ways to discuss HSE matters with the participation of a safety delegate service. The safety watchdog said that it gained an impression that both management and the safety delegate service were focused on improving employee participation.

The safety agency asked Aker BP to report on how the non-conformities will be addressed by December 1, 2017.

As for the field, the Alvheim field in the North Sea, close to the boundary with the UK shelf, is located around 260 kilometers west of Stavanger. The field was developed using a floating production unit and subsea wells.

The greater Alvheim area comprises of the discoveries Alvheim (Kneler, Boa, and Kameleon) and the fields Vilje, Volund, and Bøyla. The oil from the fields is shipped from Alvheim by tanker, and the gas is exported by pipeline to St. Fergus in Scotland. Production began in 2008.