Safety chiefs have reprimanded UK North Sea operator TotalEnergies after equipment on its Dunbar platform was left in a poor state of repair for years.
An improvement notice was issued to the French firm after inspectors found it had failed to maintain gearboxes on the pedestal crane on Dunbar in “efficient working order and in good repair” since 2016.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) officials recorded a “significant deterioration” in key gearbox readings during an inspection in November 2022.
Operator pledges to replace equipment by the end of October
The findings suggested machinery used to move the crane boom horizontally could suffer from reduced motion, due to excess play or gaps between the teeth of the gears.
TotalEnergies has confirmed the equipment will be replaced by the end of next month.
According to the notice, the operator was advised last November to take action and gave a written commitment to replace the machinery by May 26, but “failed to do so”.
HSE added: “You then committed to repairing the slew drive gearboxes during [the] week of July 10 2023, but failed to do so.”
At a meeting on August 4, representatives of TotalEnergies told HSE they had tried to replace the components in question but could not as they “were seized in place”.
HSE said this was “foreseeable, given survey works previously completed”.
A risk assessment after August found the deterioration “could cause a fatality”.
Fatality ‘very unlikely’
The improvement notice gives the operator until October 31 to remedy the situation.
TotalEnergies said it had tried to address the issue but faced technical difficulties.
And it insisted the chance of any fatal consequences was “very unlikely”.
A spokesperson for the company added: “We received an improvement notice on our Dunbar asset due to delayed maintenance on a crane gearbox.
“Work had commenced but we faced some technical difficulties which delayed the repair.
“We presented a timebound plan to the HSE, which has been accepted. The gearbox will be replaced by 31/10/23.”
The spokesperson said the company prides itself in being “open and honest with the HSE on all our sites and during all inspections”, adding: “We respect their findings and respond as required.”
Previous warnings
However, the latest notice is one of several prompted by safety inspectors at Dunbar.
HSE has previously written to the operator about areas of concern including expired certification dates for lifejackets, fire deluge system testing and “multiple well integrity issues” on one of the production wells.
Discovered in 1973 and brought on-line in 1994, Dunbar is in the northern North Sea, nearly 100 miles east of Shetland.
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