Vocabulary

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

 

This oil platform is a model in a museum.

Bjarne Kapstad of Norway worked on one like it for 20 years. He doesn’t have many good memories of that time, of the 1980s when he and his co-workers were habitually exposed to toxic substances.

Bjarne Kapstad, Former Oil Rig Worker: “I worked on the crane. There exhaust fumes from the turbine engines would blast right in our faces; sometimes we’d have to come back down after just a few minutes. And we breathe in sulfuric acid while working on the tanks.

That was really bad; many of us even threw up.”

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By age 44, Kapstad was unable to work, diagnosed with mental disability.

Now a pensioner he can barely remember things. He’s quickly overwhelmed even by visitors in his own home.

Bjarne Kapstad, Former Oil Rig Worker: “I’m always getting dizzy and I think can’t they just leave? Can’t they see that I’m not doing well?

You get very antisocial.”

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Former oil rig workers like Kapstad are called the pioneers of Norway’s oil age. Stavanger Oil Museum pays tribute to them.

In the 1970s and 80s, they were hired by the state to extract as much oil and gas from the North Sea as they could — as quickly as possible.

But when workers like Kapstad started asking for compensation for the damage they’d suffered while working working, their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Bjarne Kapstad, Former Oil Rig Worker: “The whole time so-call experts were making us feel like we were just pretending. It was pretty nasty.”

Not until late 2024 did a majority in Norway’s Parliament vote to compensate the former oil workers who had been affected by their unsafe working conditions.

Even so the government was reluctant, wary of the prospect of a deluge of lawsuits.

No apologies were forthcoming.

Jonas Gahr Stoere, Norwegian Prime Minister: “I wish to express my thanks to these people . . .

But as prime minister, I can only offer an apology in certain cases.

I don’t wish to do that here.”

The opposition accused past governments of prioritizing oil revenues over the health of the oil workers.

Mimir Krist Jansson, Socialist Red Party MP: “At the start of our oil age in the 1970s and 80s, the government worried that such occurrences might endanger the oil production.

To make sure we could continue to drill and extract oil they didn’t want to even admit to such things — let alone discuss them.

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The north sea divers did receive compensation for their occupational impairments but only after Rolf Guttorm Engebretsen and his colleague Roald Wigen had sued the Norwegian government in Strasbourg’s European Court of Human Rights.

In oil production the two Pioneer divers worked as deep as 500 meters below the surface.

In 2016 the Court ruled that incorrect pressure tables for decompression procedures were to blame for the brain damage they sustained during that time.

Rolf Guttorm Engebretsen, Former Deep Sea Diver: “I wanted to retrain as an ambulance driver but when the time came for me to take the test I’d forgotten everything.”

Roald Wigen, Former Deep Sea Diver: “The doctors told me my cognitive deficit would get worse over the years — and that clearly has to do with the diving.

That was all it was.

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Bjarne Kapstad and other former oil rig workers are still waiting to receive compensation for the damage they’ve suffered to their health.

Hundreds have died in the meantime.

Survivors say they don’t have much time left.

Former Oil Rig Worker, 2: “I suffer from osteoporosis; it won’t end well. My bones keep getting softer.

Former Oil Rig Worker, 3: “It’s time something happened before even more of us are gone.”

Former Oil Rig Worker, 4: “We won’t get our health back either way, nor all those years lost.”

Even if the decades of legal wrangling come to an end, for Bjarne Kapstad and others, the painful after effects of their work in the North Sea will not . . . as long as they live.

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Questions

 

Smoking. This report began on an oil rig. True or false?

Bronchitis. Did Bjarne Kapstad fall into the ocean? Was he injured by oil drilling machinery?

Cancer, Malignant Tumor. Bjarne worked until he retired at the age of 65. Is this right or wrong? Does he enjoy the company of friends? Does he like to visit his friends?

Atherosclerosis, Heart Disease. Does Norwegian society look down on oil rig workers? What was their mission, assignment or task?

Liver Disease. “But when workers like Kapstad started asking for compensation for the damage they’d suffered while working working, their pleas fell on deaf ears.” What does this mean? Has the government been very supportive and helped the former oil rig workers?

Cardiac Arrest, Stroke. Do all politicians and government officials feel and act the same way?

Fracture. Only those who worked on the oil rigs platforms suffered from occupational hazards. Is this right or wrong? Could the deep sea divers change careers?

Bruise. Have the former oil rig workers received compensation for their damaged health? Will everyone be compensated?

Trauma, Torment. If the receive any compensation, would the survivors be able to fully “enjoy” or benefit from it?
 
 
 
Rehabilitation. I am surprised — shocked — that this has happened in Noway, a Nordic country. Yes or no?

Recovery. What should the government and people of Norway do?

Good Health. What could or should the oil companies have done in the 1970s and 1980s?

Longevity. Can you think of similar examples of occupational and work place safety?

Centenarian. What might happen in the future?