The acute discharge risk was integrated as a part of the "Trends in risk level" in 2009, ref link to article .
It includes both major- and work accidents and working environment factors, and is limited to matters which fall in under the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway's area of authority as regards safety and working environment, as well as all helicopter transport of personnel, in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Authority and the helicopter operators on the Norwegian shelf.
The project includes:
- All production and mobile facilities on the Norwegian shelf
- Transport of personnel by helicopter from departure /arrival at the helicopter terminals to landing/departure at the facilities
- The use of vessels within the safety zone around the facilities.
- For the first time, eight specified land facilities were included in the project from 1 January 2006, including Melkøya and Nyhamna which at that date were in the construction phase. Data collection started from this date, and a separate report has been published for Phase 7, which deals with 2006, with results and analyses for land facilities.
The Risk Level Project is based on two methods which are meant to complement each other. By describing indicators, so-called defined hazard and accident situations (DFUs) which are critical to safety and working environment, a set of measuring tools have been developed which say something about the risk level development on the Norwegian shelf. In addition, questionnaire surveys, interviews, field work and other studies form the basis for social science analyses.
Risk indicators - data quality
Data are recorded for major accidents, work accidents and working environment factors, specifically:
- Indicator for major accident risk - incident indicators
- Indicator for barriers related to major accident risk
- Indicator for work accidents and diving accidents
- Indicator for working environment factors
- Indicators for other DFUs
Evaluations of the risk level development depend on many factors. A key area is data quality. The quality of the project’ s assessments is based on good data. Considerable resources are therefore invested in ensuring the quality of data.
Special emphasis is placed on underreporting. Attempts have been made to reduce the effects of any underreporting by including reporting limits for incident-related indicators. Incidents and near-misses which are reported as being over the lower limit will under normal circumstances be visible and results in measures at the facility. Correspondingly, the primary focus is on serious personal injuries in the project. These are major injuries which it will be difficult to not report.
Through using such ”limit values”, we believe that the opportunity for underreporting is very limited, and reduced to a level where it will not change the project's assessments and conclusions.
Qualitative surveys
Every other year, a questionnaire survey is carried out among the petroleum employees on the Norwegian shelf. In Phase 8, employees on land facilities were included in this survey for the first time. The objective was to look at how the employees themselves perceive the HSE conditions.
Interviews, field work and other studies also contribute to form the basis for social science analyses.
