IDENTEC SOLUTIONS has collaborated with Equinor to increase HS&E standards at the Johan Castberg oil field by implementing their personnel tracking assistant system Crew Companion.
Identec Solutions: successful FPSO safety
IDENTEC SOLUTIONS has won its third prestigious North Sea project in a row: Martin Linge, Johan Sverdrup and now Johan Castberg. The project is a central part of the further development of the northern regions and will create substantial value for Norway over a 30-year period. Operated by Equinor (formerly Statoil), one of the world’s largest offshore operators, and with a partnership with IDENTEC SOLUTIONS, the project increases the safety awareness of its workers through the use of the personnel tracking assistant system Crew Companion (see more about worker safety monitoring).
The Johan Castberg oil field is located in the Barents Sea. It is estimated to produce between 400 and 650 million barrels of oil by 2047, using an FPSO+ production vessel. The field is in arctic territory and presents numerous adverse weather challenges, such as storms, extreme wind and freezing temperatures.
Given the hazardous environment, Equinor required an accurate and reliable safety assistant system to localize its personnel in dangerous areas and situations throughout the production vessel. Crew Companion delivers the required real-time visibility for safety by equipping each worker with a transponder. The devices are located via an infrastructure, covering defined areas of the vessels, such as life boats, mustering zones and dangerous sectors. The location of personnel in these designated areas is constantly reported to the control center, providing full visibility for safety of all labor at any time.
“Locating employees in a timely manner is crucial to ensure safety in day-to-day operations and even more so in emergency situations,” underlines Dr. Urban Siller, CEO of IDENTEC SOLUTIONS.
Crew Companion also provides access to an automated headcount at various locations throughout the site; thereby, ensuring no missing personnel in the defined areas during emergencies. Emergency operations and mustering drills can now be completed 50 % faster than any manual method (learn more about an automated mustering report). Faster drills can save lives in a severe emergency situation by knowing exactly where to locate missing personnel and where to send rescue teams. This is paramount for workers who are exposed to freezing wind, snow or wet conditions. Equinor has access to the digitalized counting process, which reduces the risk of human error.
Consideration was given to the harsh and sub-zero temperatures when implementing the personnel safety assistant system. As a result, there are special requirements for the equipment and transponders, due to the site’s northerly location. The environmental conditions do not pose any challenges to the equipment of IDENTEC SOLUTIONS.
“Reliability and robustness are the core values of our solution,” Urban Siller points out, “with an innovative system design that draws on decades of on-the-job experience.”
IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ system exceeds the most stringent regulations for mustering and crowd control. The system is going to create improved administrative access to critical areas and operate effectively without human intervention, improving the current incident response management. Hardware and software can be remotely administered from both onshore and offshore control rooms.
Factory testing will begin in October 2018, in preparation for the system start up in 2021.
Dive deeper into one of our core topics: Personnel on board
