Corrective Maintenance Backlog and Incident Frequency: A Longitudinal Study of Norwegian Offshore Installations, 2015--2023

Maintenance is a backbone of controlling risk in the petroleum industry. In this study, we explore a specific indicator of corrective maintenance backlog (CMB), which is the total amount of corrective maintenance work hours identified, but yet to be completed. We sought to understand how this indicator is related to incident frequencies over a 9 -year period on an offshore installation level (fixed offshore installations, N = 86). We hypothesized that negative trend in CMB was related to higher incident frequencies, due to the lack of adequate management and control of work, and that damaged equipment may compromise safety. We also investigated the level of correspondence between these "objective" indicators of maintenance status and a measure of employee perception (offshore employees, N = 18219). We hypothesized that higher CMB would be associated with lower degree of satisfaction on a maintenance-related survey item in a questionnaire. Both hypotheses were supported. Possible reasons for the findings are discussed, including suggested further research. In essence, a high CMB seems to indicate that the control of risk on offshore installations is challenged.

Keywords: Maintenance, indicator, risk, validity, incident, petroleum.