The facilities regulations § 18

§ 18 Systems for maritime surveillance, internal and external communication

Facilities shall be outfitted with maritime surveillance and communication systems that enable continuous traffic monitoring and communication internally on the facility, and between the facility and ships, aircraft and land. Furthermore, these facilities shall be outfitted with alarm systems that can notify the personnel at all times of hazard and accident situations. The following audio and visual alarms shall be possible:
  1. general alarm in the form of interrupted sound signals and yellow flashing lights,
  2. prepare for evacuation in the form of uninterrupted sound signals and yellow flashing lights.
At least two independent chains of notification shall be established to land, preferably using permanent communication connections.
Section last changed: 01 January 2023

In order to fulfil the requirements relating to design of internal communication and alarm systems as mentioned in the first subsection, the following standards should be used: NORSOK S-001, Chapter 18 for universal audio and visual alarms, NORSOK T-101 for maritime surveillance, alarm and communication systems and NORSOK U-100 Chapter 7.14 for internal communication systems in manned underwater operations. In addition,
  1. two-way communication systems or internal radio communication should be used where necessary to communicate important information or to quickly establish contact with personnel,
  2. 112 should be used as the internal emergency number on the facility,
  3. PA systems that can be operated from strategic locations on the facility, should be used, so that all personnel can be notified of hazard and accident situations, see also Section 77 of the Activities Regulations. The central control room or the bridge should be given priority to send messages via the PA system,
  4. general alarm and evacuation alarm should be possible to trigger from the central control room and the command bridge, and the evacuation alarm should be possible to trigger from the radio room.
The requirement for at least two independent chains of notification as mentioned in the second subsection, implies that the alternative (secondary) chains of notification shall be independent from the primary chain of notification as regards power supply and availability during hazard and accident situations, including being resistant against the dimensioning established accidental loads in a defined period of time. Permanent communication systems such as fibre optic cables, radio lines or satellite systems should be used if the position of the facility makes this possible. If two independent chains of notification through permanent communication connections cannot be realised, one of the permanent communication connections should be replaced by communication through the maritime mobile service.