ABSTRACT
Since Norwegian oil and gas exploration and production started more than 40 years ago, the petroleum industry has achieved a central position in the Norwegian industry, and society as a whole. In economic terms the historical development is often described as an adventure. The Norwegian economy is largely founded on the oil and gas industry. The ripple effect on general working life has been extensive. While safety may be thought of as successful work on one hand and as absence of failures on the other, the two perspectives do not belong to different realms – their natures are not even qualitatively different: ‘Failure is the flip side of success, and therefore a normal phenomenon’ according to Erik Hollnagel et al. with strong connotations to C. Perrow’s notion of Normal Accidents.
