The term "individual and overall" has been used a number of times in regulatory audit reports related to the petroleum activities on the Norwegian continental shelf. The term stems from the Working Environment Act of 1977 and was introduced as a general safety requirement in the Norwegian petroleum activities in 1985. According to the Working Environment Act, the companies are required to ensure that "any factors in the working environment that may influence the employees physical and mental health and welfare are judged both separately and collectively". In the present paper, we explore how the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA-N) has been using the term "individual and overall" in audit reports. Specifically, we look at what is expected to be assessed in an individual and overall manner, why this is considered to be important, and if any signals are being given as to how such assessments are expected to be done in relation to the working environment. The purpose of the paper is to gain insight on the use of the term "individual and overall" in the context of the PSA-N audit activities related to working environment factors.