Alison Bledge examines how the offshore industry is managing the health and wellbeing of its workforce, and looks at a new fitness facility onboard accommodation vessel Safe Scandinavia

The offshore environment can be an extremely inhospitable place where the health and fitness of the workforce can determine survival rates in an emergency situation. As a result, there’s a growing focus on promoting the advantages of a healthy lifestyle within the UK offshore industry.

Offshore workers can be away from home for several weeks, so the comfort and wellbeing of this highly skilled workforce is also paramount. Living onboard a semi-submersible accommodation vessel, which acts as a floating hotel that attaches to an oil rig, workers have access to a range of high standard facilities that introduce an element of creature comfort to the remote life at sea.

Safe Scandinavia, currently operating in the Norwegian Snorre oil field in the North Sea, is one such vessel. It offers rig workers a host of recreation and welfare facilities including a cinema, sauna, social areas, offices, internet café, galley and mess areas – and, crucially for the all-important health and fitness levels, a gymnasium. This scope of offering is typical to most ‘flotels’, which are frequently used for platform commissioning as well as repair and modification work.

Safe Scandinavia is one of approximately 20 semi-submersible flotels in the world and is operated by Prosafe, the world’s leading owner and operator of semi-submersible accommodation and service vessels. It has accommodation capacity for 583 people for worldwide operations, or for 292 single beds for Norwegian operations (due to the high welfare regulations in Norway). Typically offshore workers have a 12-hour shift on their rig and will spend the remainder of their time on the flotel, sleeping in either individual or shared cabins.

As a moored vessel, Safe Scandinavia is anchored to the sea bed by 12 chains that keep her stable in the harshest environments. A gangway provides workers with access so they can walk back and forth to their rig or installation.

Safe Scandinavia has been on contract to major oil companies for many years and remains at the client’s rig apart from when she is undergoing maintenance, with clients paying a daily fee for vessel hire. In the past, she has mainly worked in the Norwegian sector including at Valhall for BP and Snorre for Statoil. The vessel has also been contracted for emergencies, for example in 2005 when she was used at Shell MARS, in the Gulf of Mexico, after major platform damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

But flotels are in very high demand, with clients typically contracting a vessel many years in advance; there are many more rig projects than there are flotels. Virtually all rigs are able to have a flotel attached, although some modifications may be required to the rig in order for the flotel to connect properly.

Fitness as a priority
Built in 1984 at Norway’s Aker Verdal yard, Safe Scandinavia was upgraded in 2003, 2009 and 2014: at the start of January 2014, the vessel underwent a five-year Special Period Survey. This is a requirement for every vessel worldwide to maintain their classification and safety standards, reducing the probability of any longer future yard stays and providing more earning capacity.

As part of the flotel’s most recent refurb, a 172sq m gym was installed, fitted with Life Fitness equipment which was supplied by DG Fitness – a specialist company founded by director Gary Ross in 1987 (see briefing above).

The newly installed gym features the latest Discover Series cardiovascular and Optima Series resistance equipment from Life Fitness. This includes four treadmills, two cross-trainers, six bikes, 12 studio bikes and a range of Optima weight machines. There are also free weights including dumbbells and benches. The gym provides free access to personnel ranging from 18 to 60 years of age and is open 24 hours a day to accommodate shift working.

Ross comments: “This highly skilled workforce needs to be physically fit to withstand the demanding working environment. But in years gone by, there were concerns about an ageing technical workforce at risk from conditions such as heart disease. There were also factors contributing to health risks, including physical inactivity and shift work that could lead to irregular eating and sleeping habits.

“Having a gym installed onboard the accommodation vessels is now seen as a high priority, especially for workers such as the offshore fire teams, who have to maintain a particularly high level of fitness.

“It’s a requirement in the UK offshore oil industry that workers are medically examined to assess their fitness to work on offshore installations, so they have to complete a health questionnaire as well as undergo BMI, blood pressure and lung function checks as part of a comprehensive medical examination.”

For personnel onboard Safe Scandinavia, incentive reward systems have been introduced to help maintain fitness levels. Many of the personnel follow programmes that are written onshore and taken offshore to be monitored through LFconnect, Life Fitness’ activity tracking system. Andy McLaughlan, public sector development manager at Life Fitness, comments: “LFconnect is an ideal solution for the gym onboard Safe Scandinavia, as it allows people to customise and track their workouts.

“Using connected cloud-based technology, LFconnect also provides DG Fitness with detailed data that means it’s possible to monitor equipment usage, limit any downtime and ensure the best return on investment.”

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Alison Bledge examines how the offshore industry is managing the wellbeing of its workers, and looks at a gym installed onboard the floating hotel Safe Scandinavia

Alison Bledge ,Safe Scandinavia, flotel, offshore, oil rig