First established in 1985, the provisions for coordinating regulatory development for and supervision of HSE have been further developed since the PSA was created in 2004. They were then extended to cover land plants within the authority’s area of authority.

The coordination arrangements cover other agencies with an independent supervisory responsibility for the petroleum sector – the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA), the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision/County Governor for Rogaland and the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority. On land, they also involve the Norwegian Communications Agency, the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Industrial Safety Organisation (NSO).

Agreements

Government agencies which the PSA has collaboration or support agreements with

  • Civil Aviation Authority of Norway
  • County Governor for Rogaland
  • Labour and Welfare Service
  • National Institute for Occupational Health
  • Norwegian armed forces
  • Norwegian Board of Health Supervision
  • Norwegian Coastal Administration
  • Norwegian Communications Agency
  • Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection
  • Norwegian Environment Agency
  • Norwegian Industrial Safety Organisation
  • Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority
  • Norwegian Maritime Authority
  • Norwegian Meteorological Institute
  • Norwegian National Security Authority
  • Norwegian Petroleum Directorate
  • Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority
  • Police

A support arrangement has also been established with agencies which have no independent authority in planning and implementing supervisory activities, but which have special leading-edge expertise in relevant areas.

In recent years, for example, a number of audits have been carried out for offshore operations on mobile facilities with the Norwegian Maritime Authority as the support agency. This contributes in part to ensuring equal treatment on such units regardless of flag state.

Supervision of helicopters has also been  intensified in recent years, with support from the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway. The PSA has also entered into collaboration agreements with other authorities, such as the police and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

Bilateral meetings are held with most of the collaborating and supporting agencies, either annually or as and when required. More details about the PSA’s cooperation with certain bodies and groups are provided below.

Collaboration with the NLIA and Stami

Two important partners in the working environment field are the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (NLIA) and the National Institute for Occupational Health (Stami). The same regulations for the working environment are enforced by the NLIA and the PSA.

Fixed meeting points have been established between the latter agencies to ensure sharing of knowledge and experience on various specialist issues. Particular mention in 2022 can be made of collaboration over the physical/chemical working environment, with establishing new chemical exposure limits as a key task.

The PSA works regularly with Stami in various technical fields. Joint efforts in 2022 concentrated on working time, the chemical working environment, and the psychosocial and organisational working environment. A seminar was held in December to share findings from new research on and experience with supervision.

A specific collaboration has also been pursued in recent years with the NLIA and Stami over the working environment commitment involved in Norway’s agreement on a more inclusive workplace (IA).

The principal activities with the NLIA involved producing content for the petroleum part of a help tool on the working environment portal. Where Stami is concerned, the PSA updated the basis for an industry-tailored version of a tool called “A good day at work”.

Collaboration with total defence

The significance and function of Norway’s total defence as a framework for interaction became clear in 2022. Through its role in this context, the PSA is in regular contact with several agencies.

These include the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB), the Norwegian Joint Headquarters (FOH), section 08 of the Home Guard, the national security services – the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Norwegian National Security Authority (NSM) and the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) – the police, the Norwegian Coastal Administration, the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway and the Norwegian Maritime Authority.

Activities related to total defence intensified in 2022, with particular attention devoted to establishing a shared position picture, including threats and risks, as well as dialogue on initiating measures, communicating knowledge about the industry, and incident management. This involves close collaboration and participation in confidential and open meetings, such as conferences on working together.

Through this work, the PSA contributed to the national position picture, increased knowledge about and understanding of value chains in the petroleum sector and their significance for the ability to deliver gas to Europe, and collaboration on effective national emergency preparedness.

The PSA’s director general is a member of the central forum on total defence, chaired on an alternating basis by the DSB and the chief of the defence staff. The authority also participated in an inter-agency forum on total defence.

Collaboration with the NSM 

The PSA became a partner in 2019 in the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which includes having office space in the NSM’s premises at Langkaia in central Oslo and frequent sharing of information.

This close contact with the security authorities has been important for the PSA in understanding changes to the threat picture over the year. It acquired a deeper grasp of the correlations in the assessments, and communicated knowledge of the petroleum sector.

Collaboration with the NVE  

Because Norway’s land-based petroleum plants meet a substantial proportion of their energy needs from hydroelectricity, the PSA works with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) to clarify the interfaces. The scope of this agreement is expanding because of the increasing use of power from shore on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).

As a result of the geopolitical position with gas deliveries from the NCS and the threat of power shortages, the PSA worked more closely in 2022 with the NVE to ensure a shared understanding of the consequences of this position,

Supervisory agencies coordination group and director-general group

A royal decree of 17 September 2004 appointed the NLIA as the coordinating agency for the supervision of HSE at enterprises. This must be viewed in relation to the coordinatory roles played by both the PSA and the DSB.

 

As part of its coordination responsibilities, the NLIA chairs and provides the secretariat function for the director-general (DG) and supervisory agencies coordination (TSG) groups. It also chairs sub-groups appointed on a project basis or ad hoc. The PSA is a permanent member of these bodies.

A new joint database for supervision (Tilda) was established in 2022 by the supervisory agencies, which have also collaborated on a joint e-learning programme covering key issues in this field.

Coordination group for the major accident regulations

By royal decree of 24 June 2005 and associated instructions, the DSB was given a coordinatory responsibility for supervising activities, objects and enterprises with a potential for major accidents.

The directorate heads the coordination group (KFS) for such incidents, whose members are authorities administering the major accident regulations: the DSB itself, the NLIA, the NEA, the NSO and the PSA. Annual major accident audits, including at land plants in the petroleum sector, are coordinated through this group.

This article is taken from PSA's annual report for 2022. The full report (in Norwegian only) can be read here.