A comparison of regulations on work related health in the petroleum sector in Brazil and Norway

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to compare the regulations on work related health issues in the offshore petroleum sector in Brazil and Norway. The regulation of reporting and handling of work related illness has been used as a case for the study. We aim to show that even though the legislation both in Brazil and Norway relies upon similar legislative traditions, emphasising statute law, with written norms given by national authorities, there are considerable differences in how the regulation is developed and how the this kind of norms are formulated in the two countries. The differences will be interpreted in view of the governance cultures in the petroleum sector in the two countries. What can be learnt from this comparison may be of general interest when working with development of legislation and regulations.