Supervision includes:

  • Audits and verifications on facilities, at land-based plants and at construction sites
  • Dialogue and meetings with the industry
  • Data acquisition concerning risk, accidents and incidents
  • Investigation of accidents
  • Consideration of consent applications
  • Assessment of development plans
  • Applications of consent (AoCs) for mobile facilities
  • Player assessments and licence awards
  • Use of enforcement powers
  • Control of products through market surveillance

Who do we supervise?

We supervise all players in the industry, including operators, contractors and vessel owners involved in the sector. Nevertheless, we devote our greatest attention to the companies acting as operators, because they have an overarching responsibility to ensure that all suppliers and sub-suppliers comply with the regulations.

Our regulatory authority covers the whole Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and seven petroleum-related plants on land. This also includes offshore renewable energy production and CO2 management.

We are also the market surveillance authority responsible for regulations that implement in Norwegian law harmonised product directives for machinery and pressurised equipment, among other things. The regulations apply to the sale of products for use in activities within the EEA, i.e. as a basis for activities at onshore facilities and fixed facilities offshore.

Key guidelines

The Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion, which is our parent ministry, has specified the following guidelines for our supervision:

  • our follow-up will be system-oriented and risk-based
  • our follow-up will be a supplement to, and not a replacement for, the industry’s own follow-up
  • a balance will be struck between our follow-up of major accident risk and the working environment
  • worker participation and collaboration between the parties are important preconditions and principles.

Enforcement powers

In the event of regulatory breaches, the following statutory enforcement powers are available to us:

  • orders
  • coercive fines
  • shut-down of operations
  • administrative fines.

An order is a legally binding administrative decision. In other words, a company which receives an order from us has a legal duty to comply with the specified measures. Orders are normally issued in the event of a serious breach of the regulations, but can also be used in cases where we feel a strong reaction is required to less serious conditions.

A coercive fine can be imposed should an order not be complied with by the deadline we have set.

Shut-down of operations can be used to halt an activity which represents an immediate hazard or to compel the party pursuing the activity to make the changes required to ensure that the work is done in compliance with the regulations.

An administrative fine can be imposed in the event of serious and repeated breaches of the working environment regulations.

In the event of a breach of the product control regulations, specific sanctions apply as stipulated in these regulations.

Video: What is an audit?