Offshore Shift Life: Setting the Gullfaks Gold Standard

By Ole Jone Eide

Shift work offshore is a distinctive lifestyle, with its own perks and burdens. The topic has drawn attention from research and other kinds of surveys. Common questions include: How does this type of shift work affect health and life overall—and, not least, which platform is the best place to work?

— Not many people in Norway have this kind of transport to the "office". From Gullfaks C, September 1989. Photo: Leif Berge/Equinor

Working on a platform is undeniably special. Relatively few in Norwegian
working life take a helicopter to work. Nor are there many who work two
weeks of 12-hour days followed by four weeks off. Some of us onshore have
probably felt the pull of avoiding car and public transport traffic to and
from work, combined with such long stretches of free time. But spending a
third of your life physically cut off from home comes with challenges too.

Research on offshore work

Unsurprisingly, such unusual working contexts have been studied. One
example is the dissertation “Shift work in the Norwegian petroleum
industry: work-home interference, mental distress and mastery of work,” in
which Cathrine Haugene Ljoså looks at how oil workers handle shift work.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Ljoså, Cathrine Haugene 2013. Shift work in the Norwegian petroleum industry: work-home interference, mental distress and mastery of work. PhD thesis, Det medisinske fakultet, UiO.

The main findings were that work–home conflict was relatively low, mental
health was good, and individuals reported a strong sense of mastery in
their work. An interesting difference between women and men was that women
reported a higher degree of mastery on the job and better mental health
than their male colleagues.

Which platforms are most popular?

Having learned that things look fairly good from a research perspective, it
is interesting to supplement this with a more informal poll about which
installations people feel are the best to work on.

In 2014, Teknisk Ukeblad took a less academic approach than Haugene Ljoså
and asked: “[…] what makes your platform the best on the Norwegian
continental shelf?” They followed up with: “Do you get served the best
food? Do you have the nicest cabin? Is the gym the best, or is the lounge
better than your living room at home? Maybe you’re part of Norway’s best
work environment?”

Where Haugene Ljoså posed questions to 1,697 of Statoil’s oil workers in
the North Sea about the general work situation, Teknisk Ukeblad asked those
readers with work experience from installations (including rigs and FPSOs)
on the shelf.

The parameters defining satisfaction were the social environment, leisure
amenities (such as football, floorball, cinema, fast internet), food
quality, leadership, accommodations, and technical condition.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Quale, Peder 2014: Dette er oljearbeidernes favorittplattformer. Teknisk Ukeblad (30.11.) https://www.tu.no/artikler/dette-er-oljearbeidernes-
favorittplattformer/225326

The results

Over 2,000 people responded during the week-plus the survey was live, and
more than 800 added comments about what they liked best about “their”
favorite installation. In the end they were left with a top-10 list (out of
92)—eight platforms and two rigs. Equinor [then Statoil] dominated, as
operator of six platforms; the other two were operated by Shell and
ConocoPhillips. Ocean Rig and Transocean owned the rigs.[REMOVE]Fotnote: https://www.tu.no/artikler/dette-er-oljearbeidernes-favorittplattformer/225326

Where did the Gullfaks platforms land? Here is the list:

1 Heidrun (Statoil)
2 Oseberg A (Statoil)
3 Gullfaks A (Statoil)
4 Sleipner A (Statoil)
5 Visund A (Statoil)
6 Draugen (Shell)
7 Transocean Winner (owned by Transocean)
8 Ekofisk L (ConocoPhillips)
9 Leiv Eiriksson (owned by Ocean Rig)
10 Gullfaks B (Statoil)

Gullfaks A

Apart from accommodations and technical condition, Gullfaks A scored very
high on the other four parameters—enough to secure third place. A couple
of the submitted comments read:

“The options for leisure activities include a sports hall. The best food
you could imagine, with a lavish cold buffet and dessert buffet every day
in addition to 4–6 hot dishes.”

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the mess hall. Food is also served to those working the night shift. Photo: Shadé Barka Martins/Norwegian Petroleum Museum

“The onboard environment was without a doubt the best. I looked forward to
every hitch. I’m on GFC now and it’s good, but it can’t measure up to GFA!
The cooks work magic and the gym is excellent. The internet is very good,
too.”[REMOVE]Fotnote: Quotes from: https://www.tu.no/artikler/dette-er-oljearbeidernes-
favorittplattformer/225326

Today's dinner needs to be prepared. Large cooking surfaces are required to prepare dinner for an entire platform. Photo: Shadé B. Martins/Norwegian Petroleum Museum

Gullfaks B

With a 10th-place finish, even the smallest of the Gullfaks platforms had a
significant fan base, as the following statements attest:

“Gullfaks B is absolutely the best platform to work on. Great cabins with
TV and PCs. Four to five lounges you can use as needed. The food is simply
top-notch, with 3–4 course dinners of the highest quality. Frequent
seminars and get-togethers create an outstanding social environment. Lots
of activities on board.”

“It has a large sports hall—the North Sea’s largest? The platform itself
isn’t that big, so it’s a short walk from A to Z.”[REMOVE]Fotnote: Quotes from: https://www.tu.no/artikler/dette-er-oljearbeidernes-
favorittplattformer/225326

As the quotes suggest, food, the social scene, and living quarters scored
well on Gullfaks B.[REMOVE]Fotnote: Ibid.