Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway – Odfjell Drilling must take action after Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) completed its investigation of an accident onboard the West Linus jackup drilling rig last November.
One person was seriously injured when part of a drag chain collapsed during a repair operation. The rig was operating for ConocoPhillips on the Tommeliten Field in the Ekofisk area in the southern Norwegian North Sea.
A drag chain is a cable/pipe tray carrying power cables and hoses to supply water, drilling mud and air to the cantilevered drilling rig while skidding between well slots.
The 193.5-cm-wide port drag chain on Linus comprises two cable trays, one on top of the other. One of its outer plates was bent; a two-member team were examining it to determine necessary action.
One of the individuals, who was undoing the nuts on the damaged side plates in one of the drag chain links for the repair was lying between the upper and lower drag chain when the upper section collapsed. Parts of the chain dropped and compressed his arm and head. The crushing injuries he suffered meant his arm had to be amputated between the shoulder and elbow.
According to the PSA, in slightly different circumstances, the incident could have been fatal to both individuals. Drilling was halted for 48 hours after the incident.
The investigation revealed that the repair job had not been registered, planned or risk-assessed in accordance with requirements in Odfjell’s governing systems.
Underlying causes were said to be deficiencies in control and management of technical condition, job control, governing documents and procedures, and inadequate handover routines and clarification of roles and responsibilities.
The probe brought to light the following nonconformities: registration and classification procedures and work description for the drag chain; roles and responsibilities; decision basis and safety clearance; compliance with governing documents; noise; information at shift and crew changes.
Odfjell has until March 23 to explain how it will address these issues and must also assess an improvement point identified by the investigation.
02.21.2023
