Question

What are the applicable working environment requirements to wireline operator cabins? We are thinking of noise, vibrations, acoustics, lighting, HVAC, ergonomics, design of work areas etc.

This type of cabin is not dealt with explicitly in the NORSOK S-002 standard Annex A. The “operator’s cabin in drilling unit” is, but this only adds to the (general) confusion.

Answer

The working environment requirements to wireline operator cabins are mainly given in the facilities regulations chapter IV on design of work and common areas. The guidelines to the relevant requirements or sections in these chapters recommend the use of NORSOK S-002 revision 4 as an acceptable way of fulfilling these requirements, thus giving the minimum working environment level required by the regulations.

You may fulfil the requirements in other recognised ways, too, but you must then be able to document that you have done just that by having a level or standard of working environment equivalent to or higher than the recommended one. See more about this principle of fulfilment in the framework regulations section 24 on use of recognised standards with guidelines.

NORSOK S-002 Annex A stipulates applicable area limits for luminance, temperature, vibrations, total noise levels and HVAC noise levels for typical areas of a facility, and, according to NORSOK or Standard Norge, a wireline operator cabin is covered by the term “Operator’s cabin in drilling unit” in said annex.

Specific qualitative requirements to ergonomics, man-machine interface etc. (i.e. as recommended fulfilment, cf. the regulatory principle above; see the actual requirements of the regulations in said chapter IV) are given in NORSOK S-002 chapter 5, with references to annexes and other standards.

Note that all requirements of the HSE regulations, relevance and field of application permitting, apply to wireline operator cabins also. Said NORSOK standard is but part of the recommended fulfilment in certain ares.