The audit was conducted between 19 January and 11 March 2021.

Objective

The objective of the audit was to monitor how the company provides for consistency between management practice and the intention to prevent major accidents, and whether there are common challenges across facilities, operations, projects and organisational levels.

The audit focused particular attention on:

  • Which information the company prioritises in order to achieve a realistic understanding of its own management practice
  • Which information the company believes can capture any challenges relating to framework conditions across facilities, operations, projects and organisational levels
  • How the company uses available information to gain a realistic understanding of critical safety challenges at the right level, and sufficiently early, to make relevant and effective adjustments to practices
  • Significant obstacles to achieving such an understanding

Result

No regulatory non-conformities were identified.

Four improvement points were identified in connection with:

  • Information from measurement parameters and indicators for monitoring key conditions
  • Information from investigations with a view to preventing the recurrence of hazard and accident situations
  • Information provided to and by follow-up of whether the management system under consideration is functioning as intended
  • Information concerning needs for improvement

What happens next?

The report contains observations, as well as input into relationships and potential improvements that Equinor can incorporate into further improvement work.
 
The improvement points concern factors that form part of the company’s continuous improvements. We are therefore requesting general feedback on the report's assessments and conclusions, and the company’s evaluation of these in the light of its improvement processes relating to major accident prevention. The reply deadline is set at 21 May 2021.

We will be undertaking an initiative in the second half of the year concerning the company’s improvement processes in respect of major accidents.