Equinor’s zero-accident vision on the right track, but more work needed to reduce injuries

Norwegian state-owned energy giant Equinor has shared the safety results for the third quarter of 2024, noting an uptick in safety, paired with a slight increase in the total number of injuries towards the end of the quarter.

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, the Norwegian giant registered a serious incident frequency per million hours worked (SIF) of 0.3, which is said to correspond to the second quarter’s levels. Six of the 13 SIF incidents listed in the company’s Safety results occurred offshore Norway over the last 12 months. Additionally, seven oil and gas leaks have been registered. 

Jannicke Nilsson, Equinor’s Executive Vice President for Safety, Security, and Sustainability, noted: “We’re still headed in the right direction as regards major accident potential, hydrocarbon leaks and serious incidents. We’re seeing a low incident frequency and it’s important to ensure that we’re also learning from what’s going well.”

The total recordable injury frequency per million hours worked (TRIF) for the last 12 months as of Q3 amounts to 2.4, representing a slight increase from 2.2 at the end of Q2. According to the company, there have been no incidents with major accident potential or serious well-control incidents in the third quarter.

“Our employees and suppliers are working well together to bolster safety, but we have not achieved the desired improvement for the injury trend. This is a challenge that we must solve together,” added Nilsson.

In collaboration with Aker BP, Vår Energi, and ConocoPhillips, and with support from BehaviorLab, Equinor runs the ‘Always Safe’ platform, which is open to all operators and suppliers. The initiative aims to strengthen the industry’s safety culture and work together towards zero major accidents while avoiding injuries and incidents in daily work.

The Norwegian major and its partners use the platform’s annual wheel to get better insight into the factors that can get in the way of safe work performance. As stated by Nilsson, an increasing number of users are accessing the platform, which she sees as a sign of their interest in sharing lessons learned and focusing on shared safety topics across the industry.

As for Equinor’s core business activities, the firm handed out a waste management contract to Soiltech earlier this week. The latter is set to handle drill cuttings on the Statfjord B platform, situated in what is considered one of the oldest producing fields in Norway.

Furthermore, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) granted a drilling permit for two wildcat wells in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway. The wells are situated in production license 229, operated by Vår Energi, which holds a 65% interest, and Equinor, with a 35% stake. COSL Drilling Europe’s semi-submersible rig Prospector is expected to be used for drilling operations.