The Human Factor: A Benchmark of Worker Attitude to Health, Safety and Environment in the Australian Oil and Gas Industry 1999–2001

Abstract

This paper presents a benchmark of workers perceptions about Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) in the Australian oil and gas industry, particularly those areas covered by the Commonwealth Safety Case Regime. Between 1999 and 2001, the National Institute of Labour Studies conducted surveys of workers attitudes to—and opinions of—Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) in seven oil and gas companies. The broad objectives of this exercise were:To provide each participating company with feedback on its HSE climate from a worker’s perspective; andTo produce an industry benchmark of HSE climate, allowing each company to measure itself in comparison with the rest of the industry.It is hoped that the benchmark will stimulate HSE awareness within participating companies and encourage them to share information and learn from each other. This will lead to improvements in HSE within the industry as a whole.

Comparing labour and management risk perceptions of offshore helicopter safety: Gaps, shifts and worker participation

“…Flin et al (1996) found workers’ perception of helicopter travel as the most hazardous aspect of offshore life to be accurate when compared with their installation QRAs. Rundmo (1996) recommended including workers’ subjective assessments as part of a safety control system, as did Aven (2012a) and Safari (2001). Other, sociologically informed offshore safety research is consistent with these arguments for worker involvement (Beck and Woolfson, 2010; Whyte, 2010; Woolfson et al, 1997) as is the general safety and risk literature (Frick and Wren, 2000; Gallagher et al, 2001, 2003; Nichols and Tucker, 2000; Walters, 2003; Walters and Frick, 2000).…”

“…Overall, this case study is important because the qualitative and comparative methodology offers additional insights to enhance the existing body of knowledge on risk perception and worker participation in the management of risk. It also helps to fill a significant gap in the literature, evident despite helicopter transportation being recognized by workers and safety specialists alike as the highest risk activity offshore (Flin et al, 1996; Herrera et al, 2010; Safari, 2001; Vinnem, 2010). As noted in Herrera et al (2010: 101), ‘there is little systematic knowledge about perceived risk and how passengers experience critical incidents and near accidents in offshore helicopter transport’.…”

“…Flin et al, 1996; Mearns and Flin, 1995; Tharaldsen et al, 2008; see also Sjoberg et al, 2004). British and Norwegian studies have aimed to clarify the main dimensions of risk perception (Adie et al, 2005; Flin et al, 1996; Rundmo, 1992a; Rundmo and Sjoberg, 1996; Tharaldsen et al, 2008; see Safari, 2001, for Australian data), investigated its links with risk behaviour (Fleming et al, 1995; Mearns and Flin, 1995; Rundmo, 1992b, 1996; Rundmo and Sjoberg, 1996), compared employees’ risk perception with quantitative risk assessment (QRA) and/or accident records (Flin et al, 1996; Mearns and Flin, 1995; Mearns et al, 2003; Rundmo, 1992b), and compared the risk perception of British, Danish and Norwegian workers (Fleming et al, 1995; Rasmussen and Tharaldsen, 2012). Findings have been broadly consistent.…”

“…Rundmo (1996) found that risk perception did not predict risk behaviour, proposing the possibility that changing individual risk perception cannot improve safety offshore. Workers’ risk perceptions were found to be strongly correlated with safety performance and technical calculations of risk (Flin et al, 1996; Mearns and Flin, 1995; Rundmo and Sjoberg, 1996; Safari, 2001). Flin et al (1996) found workers’ perception of helicopter travel as the most hazardous aspect of offshore life to be accurate when compared with their installation QRAs.…”

“…Much less attention has been paid to offshore managers’ risk perceptions, even though management commitment has consistently emerged as important in influencing workforce perceptions of safety in the UK, Norway and Australia (Fleming et al, 1995; Flin et al, 1996; Mearns and Flin, 1995; O’Dea and Flin, 2001; Rundmo, 1996; Safari, 2001; Tharaldsen et al, 2008). Bearing in mind the historical roots of risk management with its predominant view of employees’ risk perception as subjective and biased in contrast with management’s objective and accurate risk assessment, perhaps this gap in the literature is not surprising.…”