The accident with the P-36 oil rig in the Campos Basin in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, was one of the petroleum industry's worst international disasters. Based on this specific case, the article aims to (a) verify the role of the human dimension in the reliability of highly complex systems, with a focus on the management of incidental and accidental situations with the potential to lead to large-scale accidents. The analysis should help (b) shed light on some of the organizational factors that can increase the risk level in offshore activities, beyond the so-called immediate causes. The methodology involves mainly document research (especially the reports produced by Petrobras, ANP/DPC, and CREA-RJ) and interviews with three professionals that worked on the P-36 rig. The results indicate that the management of incidental and accidental situations in which emergency decisions are made should take advantage of contribution by the workforce, who can identify gaps in the process and discuss them with managers. This involves shared and more flexible decisions and collective analysis of risk situations. The findings also suggest that certain organizational factors contributed to the accident, corroborating domestic and international studies of major accidents and pointing to the need for a shift in the focus adopted by oil companies' management.
O acidente com a plataforma Deepwater Horizon, em 2010, é considerado o maior desastre do século no setor de óleo e gás. Esse evento teve como consequências 11 trabalhadores mortos, 17 feridos, perda total da unidade e maior desastre ambiental no Golfo do México (Estados Unidos). A literatura existente abarca seus impactos ambientais, químicos, biológicos e econômicos, concentrando-se nas causas imediatas, ou seja, situações próximas no tempo e no espaço do evento, em especial erros humanos e falhas técnicas. Tal abordagem se dá em detrimento da identificação de possíveis causas subjacentes, que remetem a fatores gerenciais e organizacionais. O objetivo deste ensaio é responder à pergunta: que fatores teriam contribuído para a ocorrência do desastre que acometeu a plataforma, considerando-se a relevância da dimensão coletiva do trabalho? Nosso aporte teórico-metodológico se baseia na ergonomia da atividade e na psicodinâmica do trabalho, valorizando também a condução sinérgica da relação entre os saberes das ciências e da experiência dos trabalhadores, como propõe a perspectiva ergológica. Foram identificadas falhas de decisão tomadas por quem se situa à ponta do processo, na operação de sistemas de alta complexidade, mas que não devem ser vistas como ponto de chegada, e sim de partida na análise de grandes acidentes. O entendimento de tais decisões demanda a compreensão das representações construídas pelos trabalhadores, inclusive em sua dimensão coletiva e compartilhada. A comunicação (ou lacunas de comunicação) entre os trabalhadores e fatores organizacionais no contexto do acidente são aspectos essenciais a serem considerados na análise de eventos que envolvem sistemas complexos.
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig accident, in 2010, is considered the biggest disaster of the 21st century in the oil and gas industry. A total of 11 workers died, 17 were injured, total loss of the unit, and the largest environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (United States). The existing literature encompasses its environmental, chemical, biological, and economic effects, focusing on immediate causes, that is, situations close to the event in time and space, especially human errors and technical failures. This approach is taken at the expense of identifying possible underlying causes, which refer to managerial and organizational factors. This essay aims to answer the question: wich factors may have contributed to the disaster that affected the platform, considering the relevance of the collective dimension of work? Our theoretical-methodological contribution is based on the activity ergonomics and the work psychodynamics, also valuing the synergistic conduction of the relationship between the knowledge of the sciences and the experience of the workers, as proposed by the ergological perspective. We identified decision failures from those who are at the tip of the process, operating systems of high complexity, that should not be interpreted as an endpoint, but as a starting point in the analysis of major accidents. Understanding such decisions demands the comprehension of the representations constructed by the workers, including in their collective and shared dimension. The communication (or communication gaps) between workers and organizational factors in the context of the accident are essential aspects to be considered in the analysis of events involving complex systems.
Modos de vida e trabalhoPrecarização e intensificação do trabalho em situações de alto risco : o caso da perfuração de poços de petróleo Precarización e intensificación del trabajo en situaciones de alto riesgo : el caso de la perforación de pozos de petróleo Précarisation et intensification du travail dans les situations à haut risque : le cas du forage de puits de pétrole Precariousness and intensification of work in high-risk situations: the case of oil well drilling
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.