Safety Culture in the News

Safety Culture in the News

Fire strikes Equinor plant in Norway that includes Europe's largest ethanol facility

Fire strikes Equinor plant in Norway that includes Europe’s largest ethanol facility

A fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon at An Equinor-operated industrial complex in Norway that includes Europe’s largest ethanol production facility.

The fire erupted at the Tjeldbergodden facility at 2.40pm local time time on Tuesday and, according to the state-controlled operator, was extinguished at 3:40pm.

According to the police department for the More and Romsdal district, there was much smoke associated with the fire. … The company’s statement on the fire, issued around 5pm local time on Wednesday, continued: “Equinor has clear priorities in a crisis. Our first priority is to attend to the people who are involved in the situation, then, the environment and our surroundings, and finally to protect the technical integrity of the plant and our industrial interests.”

Equinor recently experienced a serious fire at its Hammerfest LNG plant at Melkoya in Norway’s far north. That fire resulted in the facility being closed for at least a year.

The company has also been hit with some criticism over its safety culture in recent months.