Equinor operates a large share of the producing fields on the Norwegian continental shelf, from Troll and Oseberg to Johan Sverdrup, and runs the Mongstad and Hammerfest LNG plants onshore. This page is about what an explosion proof mobile phone has to do for Equinor teams in Norway: Zone 1 gas on decks and in process modules, the occasional Zone 21 dust area onshore, and a rotation that hands every device to someone else every few weeks. The IS-04Z1 is designed for those areas and its ATEX and IECEx certification is in progress. The IS-04Z1 is designed around intrinsic safety rather than a flameproof enclosure.
Launching Q4 2026 · certification programme in progress
Equinor's Norwegian footprint falls into three kinds of place. Offshore are the fixed and floating installations: the Troll platforms west of Bergen, the Oseberg and Gullfaks field centres, Snorre and Statfjord in the northern North Sea, Johan Sverdrup on the Utsira High, floating production on Norne and Åsgard, and Johan Castberg, which began producing in the Barents Sea in 2025. Onshore are the plants that take what the platforms send: the Mongstad crude terminal and refinery, the Sture terminal and Hammerfest LNG on Melkøya. The third kind is the safe-area offices and helicopter terminals at Stavanger, Sola and Flesland. The hazard is mostly hydrocarbon gas, condensate and crude. Which gas group and temperature class apply to a given module comes from the installation's own classification drawings, not from this page; the marking target for the IS-04Z1 is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4.
The classification drawing says whether a handset may be carried at all. After that, Equinor's installations decide how long it survives and who ends up holding it. These are the points that come up when an evaluation is planned.
A Zone 1 area on a platform is usually open or semi-open and often wet. IP68 sealing and rugged build are aimed at that, and the operating temperature range fixed by the certificate will be published on the datasheet, not promised in advance.
A device on a rotation changes hands more often than its battery changes. Android Enterprise management lets the console wipe, re-enrol and reissue it to the incoming crew, so nothing from the last person's shift travels with it.
A 50 MP photograph attached to a work order saves the walk back to the control room. Where an installation restricts photography, the camera policy is a console setting, so it can follow the installation's rules.
Offshore, the common shelf pattern is two weeks on the installation and four off, with crews flown out from Sola or Flesland. Turnaround work (revisjonsstans) adds a large contractor population for a limited window. Onshore at Mongstad, Sture and Melkøya the pattern is day work plus shift rounds, with shutdowns planned a long way ahead.
Equinor publishes supplier requirements on its website. For work with HSE risk, suppliers on the shelf are expected to be qualified in the register the operators share, Magnet JQS, formerly EPIM JQS. Technical acceptance of Ex equipment is a separate step through the operator's own requirements and the installation's equipment register. SAMS has not been through either for this device, and nothing here suggests otherwise. Ask Equinor's procurement and HSE teams for the current process before planning a trial.
On a platform the permit runs between the deck and the control room. A Zone 1 handset lets a technician photograph the isolation point, confirm it by voice and close the work order beside the valve, instead of carrying paper to the CCR and back.
A refinery or terminal shutdown puts hundreds of contractors into classified areas for a few weeks. An enrolled handset carries the job pack and site directory, and is wiped and reissued when the campaign ends.
Compact teams, long darkness and weather that can stop a helicopter mean equipment has to keep working outdoors with a fix and a link. A single device that does the camera, torch and call work reduces what a small crew carries.
A certificate is the evidence, not the decision. Whether a device is accepted on a given installation is Equinor's call, taken through its own technical requirements and the installation's equipment register. SAMS has no such acceptance, and the certificates themselves are still in progress.
Mostly the classification is gas, Zone 1 and Zone 2. Dust appears in specific places, such as some bulk-handling spaces and onshore plant. The IS-04Z1 is designed to Zone 1 and Zone 21 so that one handset does not need re-selecting between areas, but your classification drawing decides what applies where.
Evaluation units are offered under a trial agreement and are not for sale before certification. Use in a classified area of an Equinor facility would need Equinor's own permission and, in practice, a certificate covering the area, so a trial starts in a safe area with the console and the handover process.
Tell us the site, the zone and gas group, and roughly how many handsets. The SAMS team replies by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule for Norway. The IS-04Z1 is pre-launch and certification is in progress, so there is no list price yet; indicative pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
Tell us the zone, gas group and operator. We will send the datasheet and the certification schedule for your market.
