Jan Erik Vinnem, as Professor of NTNU in Trondheim, Faculty of Marine Technology, conducted an R & D Joint Industry Project on Operational Safety of FPSOs.

This project was carried out in the period 1996 – 2003, with financial support from StatoilHydro, ExxonMobile and NFR.

“Operational hazards” are taken to imply hazards that are mainly controlled by operational actions, i.e. by preparation of procedures and instructions for operators, supervisors, maintenance personnel and others to use in their execution of normal work tasks, and during response to abnormal events and conditions.
The main elements that are considered are individuals, procedures, organisation and environment, or classified alternatively; equipment, people and management systems, all within the framework of culture and environment.

An overview over potential FPSO operational hazards is presented, and a coarse subjective hazard evaluation is presented, resulting in classification of accident frequency, consequence and total risk, including consequences to personnel, environment and assets.

The main emphasis in the project was on the collision risk between shuttle tanker and the FPSO.