Abstract
The offshore completion of Oseberg C was carried out between May and December 1991 and comprised 1,5 million man-hours. Results showed that Norsk Hydro achieved a simultaneous promotion of safety, progress, quality and productivity in this work. No sever accidents occurred and the lost time incident frequency rate was about 25% of previously experienced rates in similar offshore completion work. The first oil milestone was reached four months after offshore mobilization, which was one month ahead of schedule. Full oil production was achieved two months ahead of schedule.
Results and experiences from the offshore completion phase are presented. Different factors that contributed to the results are described and their effects on the safe behaviour of the offshore organization are discussed. Examples of such factors are careful preplanning in an integrated client/contractor team and delegation of responsibility to the contractor. These factors have promoted short feedback loops and problem solving at a low level in the organization. A positive safety climate developed in the integrated team during preplanning onshore and was transferred offshore. This climate affected the behaviour of the workers in choosing safe work methods and in avoiding risk taking.
The experiences from Oseberg C have shown the benefits of developing a comprehensive strategy for planning and execution of offshore completion work. This strategy has given the necessary weight to safety in relation to progress, quality and costs. The benefits of this strategy have been further shown during the offshore completion of the Brage platform in 1993.
