Unions react to audit

The Auditor General’s report on the PSA’s follow-up of HSE attracted much comment when it was published in January. Some reactions from union websites are presented below.

Audun Ingvartson, president, Norwegian Organisation of Managers and Executives

The Auditor General’s criticism primarily involves the far too frequent failure of the PSA to make sufficiently firm use of its

enforcement powers when necessary. It is also accused of relying too much on the oil companies to comply with its orders.

Trusting the companies is fine, but there is every reason to sound the alarm when important improvements repeatedly fail to be made.

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Lise Lyngsnes Randeberg, president of the Norwegian Society of Graduate Technical and Scientific Professionals

It’s good that the PSA is taking seriously the critical comments from the Auditor General concerning supervisory practice in the NCS, and we look forward to greater clarity and responsibility in this context.

We have participated in the Auditor General’s work, and have called attention to the unclear division of supervisory responsibility between government agencies over ICT safety. Collaboration between employers and employees has been another important issue.

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Jorunn Birkeland, deputy chair, petroleum committee, Norwegian Society of Engineers and Technologists, and member of the Safety Forum

What emerges is entirely in line with the points we have also made. The report shows that the PSA has made serious errors, and its supervisory role has also undoubtedly weakened over time.

When a critical report of this kind emerges, we must remind ourselves that a lot of positive things can also be said about the PSA’s organisation.

We have a technically competent and hands-on regulator which collaborates closely with unions, safety delegates and employers in the industry, in part through the Safety Forum.

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Hilde-Marit Rysst, president, Norwegian Union of Energy Workers

The PSA experienced in practice what many people have been telling it – that the companies are happy to speak fine words to the regulator which are by no means always followed up in practice.

Giving Eni consent to come on stream although it didn’t actually have the [Goliat] installation under control was very serious and should never have happened.

This shows that the PSA can never take it for granted that a company accepts the regulator’s authority. Promises and follow-up points must be monitored in practice.

Now is when the job begins. The PSA has been given a work order, and we now expect director general Anne Myhrvold to follow it up. We are confident that she will.

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Frode Alfheim, president, Norwegian Union of Industry and Energy Workers

This criticism must be treated with the utmost seriousness. At the same time, we see today an obviously firmer and clearer regulator than when the actual audit was conducted.

After pressure from the PSA and [us], for example, big improvements have been made in the operation of Goliat and in employer-union collaboration in Eni/Vår Energy.

Following the Engen report and the White Paper on HSE in the petroleum sector, a proper grip has also been established on cooperation between government, companies and unions. And we see clearly improved collaboration and trust between these parties.

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