Equinor’s positive safety trend continues. The number of serious incidents per million hours worked is still declining at the end of the third quarter, measured over the past 12 months.
At the end of the third quarter of 2023 the serious incident frequency per million hours worked (SIF) was 0.3, which is equivalent to the level we saw at the end of the second quarter, and down from 0.4 in the first quarter. Serious injuries are also included in the serious incident frequency.
The total recordable injury frequency (the number of injuries per million hours worked, TRIF) is 2.4 for the past 12 months per the third quarter, down from 2.5 in the second quarter.
Ten oil and gas leaks have been recorded during the past 12 months. Oil and gas leaks are classified by the severity of the leak rate.
“On 30 August a crew member on the LPG tanker Exo Galaxy fell overboard and died in Malaysia. The vessel was in operation for Equinor. This is a tragic incident affecting everyone involved and is a strong reminder that even though we see a positive safety trend we must keep focusing on safety in all our activities,” says Jannicke Nilsson, executive vice president for safety, security, and sustainability.
The ship is on contract with Equinor and was on its way for loading operations in Malaysia. A search-and-rescue operation was launched immediately, and the missing person was found dead in the water on 1 September. Equinor is in close dialogue with the Stealth Maritime shipping company, which is following up the next-of-kin locally. The incident is being investigated.
Preventing major accidents
Throughout the year Equinor’s employees have worked well, together with the suppliers, on preventing major accidents. A significant effort has been made on safety-critical maintenance on the company’s installations and plants.
“The lag in this type of maintenance has been strongly reduced since 2020, and it has never been lower than it is now. Reducing the lag in safety-critical maintenance is essential in our effort to prevent major accidents,” underlines Nilsson.
There were no incidents with major accident potential in the third quarter.
Equinor is continuing its work on preventing major accidents by focusing particularly on safety training of leaders and on e-learning courses that are also available to the company’s suppliers.
Through the “Always Safe” annual wheel Equinor cooperates with other operating companies and external suppliers to enhance the understanding of what conditions prevent safe work. In the fourth quarter we will focus on health and working environment.
