The Draugen platform stands by itself out in the Norwegian Sea, with no other fixed facilities close by. Those who work there have been concentrated together in a confined space.

The Norwegian Storting (parliament) decided as early as 1988 that Draugen’s operations organisation would be located in Kristiansund. But it takes time to build up a completely new team.

Unionisation is a long tradition in Norwegian working life. Associated union activity was therefore seen as a natural process when the petroleum industry became fully established in southern Norway during the 1970s.

The early years of oil operations on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), from 1965 to the late 1970s, have been described in retrospect as dominated by an American work culture.

Overall responsibility for emergency response on Draugen and the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) between 62°N and 65°30’N lay with Kristiansund’s police commissioner from the mid-1980s. But no longer.

Part of a crane on the south side of the Draugen platform broke during trials, following an extension to the boom in order to lengthen its reach. Part of the extension with a 15-tonne test bag and rope went into the sea.

An undesirable incident occurred on Draugen during a wireline operation on 4 December 2010 to replace a gas lift valve with a new type.

Wind speeds up to 40 knots combined with temperatures down to -7°C proved too much for the Draugen platform, and production had to be shut down on 22 February 2010.

Nobody was hurt when four people ended up in the sea after a man-overboard (MOB) boat overturned near the Draugen platform.

A break occurred in the loading hose while discharging oil from Draugen to the Navion Scandia shuttle tanker, allowing three to 10 cubic metres of oil to escape to the sea.

The freefall lifeboats on Draugen created problems when it transpired that their superstructure was unable to cope with the stresses experienced when being launched into the sea.

It does not happen often. But a helicopter en route from Åsgard B to Kristiansund with 18 people on board was hit by lightning on 15 March 2005 and made an emergency landing on Draugen. Nobody was hurt.

The field was shut down again after a minor leak was found in a condensate pipeline on the platform. Output was suspended for safety’s sake, but none of the 70 people on board were evacuated.

Storms with wind speeds well above hurricane force struck the Halten Bank in January 2005. In itself, this weather posed no threat to either platform or production on Draugen.

A helicopter was flying from Kvernberget airport to Draugen when a door to the passenger cabin fell off. Nineteen passengers and two pilots were on board, but nobody was injured.

An oil slick about one nautical mile in circumference was observed late in the evening of 19 May 2003. This was the third-largest crude spill on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) at the time.