– This is special. And seriously. – E24

In late September, it burned intensely at Equinor’s gas plant in Melkøya, outside Hammerfest. Just a few days before, the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) had an inspection there.

Here five discrepancies were discovered.

The most serious of all: “detour treatment”.

Three deviations that were noted in 2017 weren’t followed up, the audit found. The company lacks a systematic approach to follow-up, the PSA believes.

– This is special. Of course, it is serious that we go back and find that the diversions are not closed, says Øyvind Midttun. He’s a press contact at the PSA.

Equinor also does not sufficiently follow up on deviations that they themselves find at the plant, the audit believes.

– The system must be improved

These are the deviations from 2017 that were not handled as they should:

• About Electric Distribution Station Door Monitoring
• About emergency lighting
• About nonconformity treatment

In the middle of the investigation of the great fire, Equinor has more headaches. The PSA has given them the order not to follow up on the 2017 deviations.

Equinor should review its internal system for recording and tracking deviations. They should also take steps to ensure that deviations are properly followed up.

– We hope this is fixed. Your system needs to be improved. It’s not enough that we go back and see that diversions don’t close like they said they should, says Midttun.

The PSA’s impression is that Equinor does not track deviations well enough in anticipation of permanent improvements, they write.

Union representative: We have pointed this out before.

Veronika Maryon Rodal is a shop steward at the facility. He does not believe that the PSA believes that Equinor does not have a good enough system to keep track of deviations.

– We have also pointed it out before, says Rodal. She adds:

– We may not have enough resources or expertise to follow up on discrepancies. We have had some difficulties with the staff in recent years.

He says there hasn’t been a very good atmosphere at the facility lately. In recent months, employees have been waiting to go back to work. Both Equinor, the PSA and the police are investigating the fire.

– We are moving towards brighter times. Injuries are being mapped and we’ll be able to start working again soon, he says.

– Is there a need for a more extensive review of plant safety, deviation handling, and maintenance routines?

– Yes. It does. We have already started to go through routines. It will be good, says Rodal.

Equinor boss: – I found a surprise

Andreas Sandvik is the factory manager of the plant. He agrees with criticism from the PSA about how Equinor has closed the discrepancies.

– We take this very seriously. We depend on having a quality close of internal and external discoveries, he says.

– What went wrong while following up on these discrepancies?

– Our systems have not been good enough to capture all the discrepancies. Systems compliance has not been good enough either. We will work hard to ensure good practice.

– We are now thoroughly reviewing the findings to establish measures. We have started working to make sure our system maintains the quality it needs.

Sandvik says the PSA findings came as a surprise.

– Do you have challenges with the competition and staff?

– This is an area in which we have worked a lot. We have strengthened ourselves on the side of electrical maintenance. We still have challenges getting enough electrical engineers. It is an industry challenge.

– I have no reason to believe this is due to negligence. We have a hard-working gang that works every day to ensure the operation and safety of the plant, he adds.