§ 29 Notification and reporting of hazard and accident situations to the supervisory authorities
The operator shall ensure coordinated and immediate notification via telephone to the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority in the event of hazard and accident situations that have led to, or under slightly altered circumstances could have led to
- death,
- serious and acute injury,
- acute life-threatening illness,
- serious impairment or discontinuance of safety related functions or barriers, so that the integrity of the offshore or onshore facility is threatened,
- acute pollution.
Acute pollution or the risk of acute pollution on or from onshore facilities shall also be reported in accordance with the Regulations of 9 July 1992 No. 1269 relating to notification of acute pollution, etc. (in Norwegian only).
Acute radioactive pollution or danger of acute radioactive pollution shall also be notified in accordance with the Regulations of 16 December 2016 No. 1659 relating to radiation protection and use of radiation (Radiation protection regulations) (in Norwegian only).
In the event of hazard and accident situations as mentioned in the first subsection, litera b through e, but of a less serious or less acute nature, the operator shall submit individual written notification to the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority on the first workday after the situation took place or was discovered.
Section last changed:
01 January 2018
Procedures can be established whereby other parties than the operator can give notification under this provision, such as the principal undertaking. Pursuant to the Working Environment Act, the individual employer bears this responsibility.
The supervisory authorities stipulate the specific format for the written notification as mentioned in the first subsection, and the report as mentioned in the third subsection.
The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority notifies the Norwegian Coastal Administration by telephone. The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority forwards the written confirmation of the notification and the written report to the Norwegian l Coastal Administration, the Norwegian Environment Agency, the Norwegian Board of Health, the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning, the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority and other relevant authorities.
Independently of the notification to the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority as mentioned in the first subsection, the Main Rescue Coordination Centre should be notified directly and as soon as possible in order to mobilise necessary public emergency response resources, cf. Section 77 of the Activities Regulations.
Notification and reports regarding contagious illnesses posing a threat to public safety, shall take place as mentioned in the Control of Communicable Diseases Act (in Norwegian only), cf. Regulations of 30 December 1994 No. 1224 relating to physicians’ and other health personnel’s reports on and notification of communicable illnesses.
Pursuant to the Drinking Water Regulations (in Norwegian only), the owner of the waterworks (operator) shall notify the Norwegian Food Safety Authority or the delegated supervisory authority in the event that limit values for drinking water quality as stated in the appendix to the Regulations, are exceeded. Reference is made to the more detailed discussion of limit values etc. in the Appendix to the Drinking Water Regulations.
Injury as mentioned in the first subsection, litera b, means serious personal injury or other health damage, reduced health or loss of financial assets, see also Section 11 of the Framework Regulations. Serious personal injury is defined in Section 31, first subsection.
Acute pollution as mentioned in the first subsection, litera e, is defined in Section 38 of the Pollution Control Act (in Norwegian only).
The provision in the fourth subsection also applies to hazard and accident situations or personal injuries that have occurred under elevated atmospheric ambient pressure, including personal injuries that have required first aid. The types of hazard and accident situations or personal injuries that should be reported to the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority are described in NORSOK U-100 Chapter 4.8.3 and Annex A. These are reported in writing to the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority in addition to being reported on the form in NORSOK U-100 Annex A.
Offshore petroleum activities
Hazard and accident situations as mentioned in the first subsection include
- situations where there is a danger that vessels or drifting objects can collide with facilities,
- well control incidents and well integrity incidents, cf. also Offshore Norge's guideline No. 135,
- explosions and fires,
- major accidental hydrocarbon and chemical discharges of significance to safety and the working environment,
- accidental discharges of petroleum, drilling fluid and chemicals of significance to the external environment, cf. recommended levels for notification of acute pollution,
- incidents where the use of radioactive sources is out of control, or acute discharges of radioactive substances have taken place,
- incidents caused by electricity or arising from work in or operation of electrical installations,
- falling objects, including all falling objects with falling energy above 40 Joules, even if the object falls into a restricted area or to the sea. When calculating fall energy, no deductions shall be made at height for height of persons.
Notification should be given of the following situations:
- situations where the emergency response organisation is activated, or where preparations for evacuation are implemented,
- situations where preparations have been made for moving personnel, or personnel have been moved as a consequence of meteorological forecasts,
- situations where the safety delegate demands that dangerous work be stopped.
Hazard and accident situations as mentioned in the fourth subsection, can include
- situations where special hygiene or health preparedness measures have been implemented, e.g. in connection with
- illness attributed to the water or food supply,
- failure of normal hygienic procedures resulting in increased risk of illness,
- less serious situations in connection with positioning, pipeline systems and load-bearing structures,
- violation of safety zones or areas subject to special limitations, cf. Section 57 of the Framework Regulations,
- situations which have led to loss of deck cargo, anchoring, mooring and towing equipment, and drilling and well equipment. The notification should indicate the exact position,
- accidental hydrocarbon and chemical discharges of lesser significance to safety and the working environment,
- accidental discharges of petroleum, drilling fluid and chemicals of lesser significance to the external environment, cf. recommended levels for notification of such discharges,
- situations where radioactive sources are stuck in the well,
- situations where individual measurements show that employees have been exposed to radioactive radiation (effective dose equivalent) of more than 20 mSv during the course of twelve months,
- situations where normal operation of control or security systems is disturbed by unplanned work (ICT event).
In the event of work accidents that have led to death or serious personal injury, the Police shall be notified as mentioned in Section 5-2 of the Working Environment Act. The prevailing practice has been for the operator to notify the Police of fires and other serious accidents. The correct police authority for offshore incidents is
- Sør-Vest Police District, south of 62 degrees latitude,
- Møre og Romsdal Police District, between 62 and 65 degrees 30 minutes,
- Nordland Police District between 65 degrees 30 minutes and 68 degrees 30 minutes,
- Troms Police District north of 68 degrees 30 minutes.
In the event of helicopter accidents, the aviation enterprise shall notify the Civil Aviation Authority, the Accident Investigation Board Norway and the Police in accordance with BSL 1-3, Regulations relating to reporting and notification duty in connection with aviation (in Norwegian only).
Incidents involving ionising radiation sources in connection with borehole logging, use of industrial control sources and industrial radiography, shall be notified directly to the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority pursuant to Section 20 of the Radiation Protection Regulations (in Norwegian only).
Recommended levels for notification and reports regarding accidental discharges:
Discharge | Notification pursuant to first subsection | Report pursuant to fourth subsection |
Chemicals in black and red categories, liquid hydrocarbons | When mapping or combating is appropriate and in all events when > 1 m3 | > 0.010 m3 |
Chemicals in yellow and green category |
| > 10 m3 |
For these purposes, chemicals means substances used in concentrated form or in mixtures including solvents. For mixtures of chemicals, the discharge is assigned to the category representing the most environmentally hazardous substance.
The operator should also consider the need for notification in the event of minor incidents in special cases. Examples of such cases are repeated minor discharges during a short period of time. In such special cases, the operator should consider whether there is a need to give formal notification where a report is normally sufficient. An example of this is discharges that can harm particularly vulnerable environmental values, such as flocks of seabirds, the presence of corals or other valuable sea floor habitats.
Discharges that are visible on the sea but have no known cause, are subject to a duty of notification to the Norwegian Coastal Administration; cf. Section 39 of the Pollution Control Act (in Norwegian only).
The requirement for notification and reporting should be viewed in context with e.g. Sections 20, 30 and 34 of the Management Regulations and Section 77, litera e of the Activities Regulations.
The Norwegian Environment Agency can stipulate more detailed requirements for notification and reporting in special cases, for example in connection with exploration drilling near land in particularly vulnerable areas.
Acute pollution is defined in Section 38 of the Pollution Control Act (in Norwegian only) as “pollution of importance, which happens suddenly, and which is not allowed according to provision in or pursuant to this Act”. This means that an accidental discharge can be considered acute pollution even if limit values in a permit granted pursuant to Section 11 of the Pollution Control Act (in Norwegian only), have not been exceeded. An example of this is an abnormal discharge situation with high concentrations of oil in water over a short period of time, even if this does not lead to overruns in relation to the permit in the form of a monthly average. Similarly, pollution can be deemed acute and the harmful effects on the environment can be serious, even if the pollution develops gradually and over a longer period of time, for example in connection with leaks from tanks, pipelines, etc. In each individual case, the operator shall determine whether the discharge entails a need for notification or reporting.
A description of how to determine what is meant by lawful and unlawful pollution is provided in the Guidelines relating to Section 34 of the Management Regulations.
Onshore activities
Hazard and accident situations as mentioned in the first subsection can be
- explosions and fires,
- major accidental hydrocarbon and chemical discharges of significance for safety and the working environment,
- accidental discharges of petroleum and chemicals of significance for the external environment,
- incidents where the use of radioactive sources is out of control, or acute discharges of radioactive substances have taken place,
- hazardous substances not accounted for, cf. Regulations relating to explosive goods,
- incidents caused by electricity or arising from work in or operation of electrical installations,
- falling objects, including all falling objects with falling energy above 40 Joules, even if the object falls into a restricted area or to the sea. Snow and ice that fall into a restricted area are excluded. When calculating fall energy, no deductions shall be made at height for height of persons.
Notification should be given regarding the following situations:
- situations where the emergency response organisation is activated, or where preparations for evacuation are implemented,
- situations where the safety delegate demands that dangerous work be stopped.
Hazard and accident situations as mentioned in the fourth subsection, can include
- situations where special hygiene or health preparedness measures have been implemented, e.g. in connection with
- illness attributed to the water or food supply,
- failure of normal hygienic procedures resulting in increased risk of illness,
- less serious situations in connection with pipeline systems and load-bearing structures,
- accidental hydrocarbon and chemical discharges of lesser significance for safety and the working environment,
- accidental discharges of petroleum and chemicals of lesser significance for the external environment,
- situations where individual measurements show that employees have been exposed to radioactive radiation (effective dose equivalent) of more than 20 mSv during the course of twelve months,
- situations where normal operation of control or security systems is disturbed by unplanned work (ICT event).
In the event of work accidents entailing loss of life or serious personal injury, the Police shall be notified as mentioned in Section 5-2 of the Working Environment Act. As regards land facilities, the correct police authority is the respective district where the land facilities are located.