Author: Alf Inge Molde

Text: Alf Inge Molde

Jakob Inge Kristoffersen has worked as a psychologist for more than 40 years. He possesses decades of experience from major accidents and disasters, and the training and follow-up of emergency personnel, both in Norway and abroad.

On Wednesday the 30th of November, the specialist from Clinic for crisis psychology in Bergen, of which OFFB has had a collaboration agreement for a number of years, shared his expertise with the participants gathered at the Competence Centre.

Kristoffersen talked about incidents which have stuck in the collective memory of the Norwegian people over the recent decades. When asked about the emotional reactions among emergency personnel, he admitted that tears may flow, even on his cheeks, when faced with people who have been exposed to the worst horrors imaginable.

“I have never been criticised for this. So I suppose it is OK, even for less experienced personnel, to react emotionally. But if one manages to stay focused on the tasks at hand, it helps keep the impact of the tragedies at bay,” Kristoffersen says.

Further reading: Looking after people affected by crises 

Facts, not feelings
A gathering of 50 people with various emergency management tasks within OFFB and the oil and gas companies were introduced to how they should prepare for the handling of critical incidents, acute and long-lasting stress reactions, management and follow-up, principles for psychological first aid, taking care of those affected and their next of kin, psychological preparedness planning, lessons learned at the centres for evacuees and next of kin, consequences for the company and its employees, and how to be prepared – on an individual level and as a team and a company.

Many are afraid of making mistakes when interacting with those affected and their next of kin. But the worst thing one can do is to do nothing. In general, people rarely do anything that is totally wrong, Kristoffersen reassures.

During the initial stages after a critical incident, it is vital that the survivors and those affected are looked after – for instance at a reception centre or a centre for evacuees and next of kin – where they can feel safe, and are allowed to wind down and thus reduce the stress.

To reduce stress immediately after an incident is essential. The professional term for this is activation.

“Good and factual information is more important than talking about feelings. One should delay the verbal expression of thoughts and emotions. It is much better to ask about what happened, and what the person has done,” he advises.

People react very differently to crises. Most individuals stay calm. Experience also shows that the number of people affected by incidents is usually much higher than expected. Far more people than we imagine are often impacted by critical incidents.

The paradox of support
When critical incidents occur, large resources are usually mobilised in the early stages to take care of those affected and their next of kin. This is good. But as time goes by, the need for support often increases, while the availability of support and aid decreases.

“Experience from the last 20 years shows that the need for help and support stretches over a long period of time. Which means that help must continue to be available,” says Kristoffersen.

According to the psychology specialist, many companies have assigned a next of kin contact person as a liaison between the company and the affected families. This is a good thing. But these contacts need initial training, to prepare and equip them for conducting their role.

It is especially important that people within the companies – both colleagues and managers – are aware of their existence. And all parties must be aware that their tasks demand time, and will take up some of their working hours.

“For how long should they conduct this role? Three weeks? No, the time horizon should be one year,“ Kristoffersen says.

Taking their responsibility seriously
Head of the Competence Centre, Dag Normann Aasjord, is very pleased with the interest shown for attending the course. In his opinion, it demonstrates that the handling of reactions to crisis incidents is a relevant subject to OFFB’s members.

“The content of the course is of direct relevance to the safeguarding of personnel involved in incidents and crises, and our members are taking their responsibility seriously. We have a good collaborative partnership with the Clinic for crisis psychology, and Jakob Inge Kristoffersen has a long and unique experience,” says Aasjord.

Courses offered by the Competence Centre are also good arenas for exchanging experience, and the members take the opportunity to make contact with each other during the breaks.

Further reading: OFFB’s Competence Centre

Beredskapskonferansen arrangeres i år for 14. gang og gjennomføres på Clarion Hotel Stavanger.

Konferansen starter med en uformell sammenkomst for deltakere og utstillere mandag 12. september klokken 19, før man gyver løs på to fulle dager med beredskapsfaglige spørsmål og problemstillinger.

Det settes naturligvis også av godt med tid til faglige diskusjoner og sosialt samvær i pauser, lunsjer og under konferansemiddagen 13. september.

Årets program har fire hovedtemaer:

• Kapasitet og kompetanse innen beredskap
• Aksjonsledelse i forbindelse med langvarige hendelser
• Covid-19 – håndtering og læring
• Trusselbildet i det norske samfunnet

På scenen møter sterke foredragsholdere fra Industri Energi, Ravyn, Petroleumstilsynet, Equinor, Kystverket, NOFO, Luftforsvaret, Safetec, Vår Energi, Folkehelseinstituttet, Odfjell Technology, PST, Universitetet i Stavanger, Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap (DSB).

Mer informasjon om programmet og påmelding finner du her:

www.beredskapskonferansen.no

Velkommen!

“OFFB offers the best solution for emergency preparedness, both in terms of experience and breadth of services. OFFB was therefore a natural choice for us, when we start drilling our second own-operated well on the Norwegian continental shelf this summer, in the Copernicus prospect off Brønnøysund in Nordland county,” says Marek Woszczyk, general manager of PGNiG Upstream Norway.

The Norwegian company is wholly-owned by Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA, which is the biggest petroleum exploration and production company in Poland. PGNiG was listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2005, and the Polish state is its biggest shareholder.

PGNiG Upstream Norway has been active on the Norwegian continental shelf since 2007. The company has expanded through a series of successful investments and acquisitions. In 2021, it acquired INEOS E&P Norge.

The main objective of PGNiG Upstream Norway is to secure the supply of gas and oil to the PGNiG Group. The hydrocarbons will be transported to Poland through the Baltic Pipe. Together with its partners, PGNiG Upstream Norway has participated in the drilling of more than 50 exploration- and production wells, resulting in significant oil and gas discoveries such as Ærfugl, Shrek and Warka.

PGNiG Upstream Norway holds shares in nine producing fields on the NCS today. These are Skarv, Morvin, Vilje, Vale, Gina Krog, Skogul, Ærfugl, Kvitebjørn and Valemon. It also has shares in seven projects with plans for development: Ærfugl phase 2, Gråsel, Duva, Tommeliten Alpha, King Lear, Alve Nord and Shrek. The company holds shares in a total of 60 licenses on the NCS.

PGNiG Upstream Norway’s head office is in Stavanger.

Managing Director of OFFB, Ole Jacob Haug, and general manager of PGNiG Upstream Norway, Marek Woszczyk.

Peter Wessel Cupen er Norges største håndballturnering og arrangeres hvert år i Larvik. Her konkurrerer de beste lagene i aldersgruppen 12 til 16 år fra hele landet.

KFUM Stavanger J07 stilte med to lag. KFUM Håndball Stavanger – 1 spilte finalekamp mot Årsta AIK HK og vant 17 – 14. Andrelaget hadde også en strålende innsats og ble nummer to i sin pulje – etter å ha blitt slått ut i sekstendedelsfinalen etter en jevn kamp.

OFFB har vært stolt sponsor av laget siden oppstarten og OFFBs HMSK/HR-leder var hovedtrener for laget de fem første årene. Jentene trener fire dager i uken, i tillegg til kamper.

“It is essential to meet in peacetime, as we call it, to connect with those responsible for planning and executing various tasks in crisis situations, and to secure a common, complete understanding. This makes it easier to find each other when it really counts,” says Pål Erland, Neptune Energy’s point of contact and emergency response manager at OFFB.

This is not the first time OFFB and Neptune Energy assemble collaborating actors for an emergency preparedness gathering in Florø. But the pandemic has made it more difficult to meet in person.

Erland is very pleased that 30 people from Neptune Energy, A/S Norske Shell, Avinor, Kinn municipality, Securitas, Quality Hotel, the police, Equinor, Bristow and Sintef were able to dedicate this day to get to know each other better, to discuss professional issues and enhance their skills.

This year’s assembly was particularly focused on collaboration at the operators’ centre for evacuees and next of kin (OSEP) in Florø. Kinn’s municipal chief physician Kjell-Arne Nordgård and Truls Eide, professionally responsible doctor at Neptune Energy, presented their own roles and gave advice on how to interact.

Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the threat level in Norway, representatives from Norway’s oil and gas industry were also introduced to ways of handling these challenges.

“Neptune Energy, Avinor, the police, Equinor and research director Maria Bartnes at Sintef all gave valuable input on various topics, and suggested tools we can utilise in our coming emergency planning activities. The key points are to prepare oneself, and to exercise and practice together with relevant actors,” Erland says.

Text: Alf Inge Molde

“When does a crisis actually end?” professor Odd Einar Olsen asks, rhetorically.

For those affected, it may never end. For those who have an operative role in handling the crisis, the answer is: When the fire is extinguished and everyone’s gone home.

But putting out the fire does not necessarily mean that the crisis is over.

“Politically speaking, the crisis is not over until trust is restored. Which implies that people must have faith in the crisis management, accept what has happened, and believe in the involved parties’ representation of the events. It also means that people are willing to accept the findings of the investigations,” Olsen says.

A credible ending may therefore be the result of a long-lasting process.

A neglected topic in the literature on crisis management
On February 23, OFFB assembled emergency response personnel, from the second-line operational and third-line strategic levels, for a workshop on strategic emergency management beyond the initial phases of a crisis. The workshop took place at the OFFB’s offices at Forus outside Stavanger, and was initiated and chaired by the Competence Centre’s staff.

Odd Einar Olsen gave a though-provoking presentation of the political dimension of crisis management, and the art of ending a crisis. He was followed by Øistein Johannessen, vice president of communications at Equinor, who shared Statoil’s learnings from the handling of the helicopter accident near Turøy island, North-East of Bergen, in 2016.

Olsen is a professor of risk management and societal safety at the University of Stavanger, and has researched and written a number of textbooks on crisis management and media coverage of crises. In addition to this, he has 20 years of experience from relief work, crisis handling, development aid and technology transfer in 18 countries, working for the United Nations and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

He believes the closing of a crisis is a neglected topic, both in textbooks and political documents - despite the fact that it will affect how the crisis is understood and explained in the future, and the reputation of those responsible for handling the events.

“The focus of the literature on crises, is first and foremost on preparedness and the handling of a crisis itself. When it comes to ending a crisis, it mostly concerns the debriefing of staff and the learning afterwards. Very little is written about the political closing of crises, and the risks involved when this is handled in a poor manner,” Olsen says.

Clear and well-considered strategies wanted
This is a subject that should be addressed, he believes. Big crises do not end by themselves. Someone will have to declare them being over. By then, both operational and political tasks should be completed, preferably in parallel. At the same time, the public – the media included – should perceive the crisis to be over. When an ending is declared too soon or in the “wrong” manner, big problems will loom in the aftermath.

Classic examples include the offshore platform Alexander Kielland capsize in 1980, the plane crash near Mehamn in 1982, and the ferry disasters Scandinavian Star in 1991 and Estonia in 1994, he argues.

“The common features of these incidents were: Many casualties and massive attention at the time. Many were left with the impression that not all the facts were included in the investigations, and new information not taken into consideration later on. The identification of scapegoats was disputed, and the events attracted a lot of media attention,” Olsen points out.

Could these discords and problems afterwards have been avoided? It is difficult to say for certain. It is also difficult to produce a consistent scenario for how to achieve an acceptable ending, he admits. Each incident will have its own distinctive characteristics and challenges.

Doing the right things is not enough, Olsen adds. Credibility is also about form, content and trust. The closing process also involves other actors than those engaged in operational tasks. The real acid test is whether the general public accepts that the crisis is over.

“I would like to see a clear and well-considered strategy for how this can be achieved,” the professor says.

“Do not underestimate the follow-up work”
Øistein Johannessen, vice president of communications at Equinor, was invited to share experiences from the way Statoil’s emergency response organisation handled the helicopter crash at Turøy, which happened on April 29 in 2016. Two pilots and eleven passengers lost their lives in the most serious accident within the Norwegian oil and gas industry since the turn of the millennium.

“Do not underestimate the follow-up of next of kin,” he advises.

Be sure to have clearly defined roles, tasks and reporting lines. Prioritise those directly affected, and the people closest to them. Do not underestimate their insecurity. Have sufficient staff available. Put internal resource personnel to use. Be consistent in your communications. And exercise!

“Crises and serious incidents will leave a deep imprint on the organisation for a long time afterwards, both on a human level and on the company’s security efforts. Serious incidents are both epoch-making and defining events,” Johannessen says.

Continuous improvement and progress
The Operator´s association for emergency response (OFFB) is working continuously to improve and develop itself. It is constantly seeking new knowledge – both from academia and from other organisations’ handling of real incidents.

The workshop is part of a goal-oriented effort to further develop work tools and training- and exercise concepts for crisis management beyond the initial phases. This is a focus area for OFFB in times to come.