Does fatigue mediate the relation between physical isolation and safety behaviour among isolated oil and gas workers?

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) represents companies exploring for, and producing, oil and gas in Australia. APPEA has a responsibility to the community and an obligation to its membership to improve the health, safety, and environmental (HSE) awareness of new recruits entering the energy sector from schools and to reinforce awareness and safe behaviour amongst experienced personnel. Unfortunately, however, APPEA noted that school-based HSE training was virtually non-existent and much preexisting lecture-based HSE training was inconsequential because the traditional death by PowerPoint approach did not enable people to think for themselves. In essence, much safety training has failed to capture the hearts and minds of employees. In response, APPEA, with the financial support of ChevronTexaco Australia Pty Ltd and the professional and technical support of An Meá, developed a hazard identification and risk awareness training activity that promotes safety from the heart by actively engaging the minds of students and employees.The Haz & Zard Safety Awareness Activity is not a lecture or talking-head experience. Haz & Zard is an active process of adult learning that forces trainees and students to think. At a psychological level, Haz & Zard uses a projective technique with computer-generated HSE images across a range of workplace activities. The projective training process enables participants to identify and assess hazards and associated risks, and then define hundreds of appropriate safe behaviours and practices in response. Intra-group discussions further heighten learning and a participant workbook enables the capture and evaluation of training outcomes. To reiterate the main point, there is no place within Haz & Zard for an HSE lecture. Instead, Haz & Zard enables active participation and advanced discussion of a wide range of HSE issues to enhance learning outcomes and motivate positive safety behaviour.

Download Full-text

Modelling the Spread of Covid-19 in a Typical Oil and Gas Facility Setting

10.2118/207177-ms ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Emeka Okafor ◽

Brad Bass

Keyword(s):

Autonomous Agents ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

High Risk Population ◽

Model Parameters ◽

Upward Trend ◽

Resource Base ◽

Agent Based ◽

Physical Isolation ◽

Preventive Actions ◽

Complex Organization

Abstract The spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 in a typical oil and gas facility setting, the health of employees, their families and their communities, is of real concern to the industry. In this work, a suitable predictive, agent-based model is used to predict the spread of COVID-19 in different settings as well as to evaluate strategies to block the spread. The agent-based modelling work is based on the simulation platform, Complex Organization and Bifurcation Within Environmental Bounds, or COBWEB. COBWEB simulates how a system of autonomous agents adapts to variation and sudden changes in the resource base or other features of their environment. Previous COBWEB simulation results illustrate that the tool is useful for predicting the evolution of COVID-19 spread and the effectiveness of various preventive actions including self-isolation of symptomatic people, social/physical distancing, effective PPE use, and ‘shielding’ (physical isolation) of the high-risk population. We adapted model parameters to better represent uncertainty about what might be expected in such a setting, in particular by shifting the distribution of risk severity towards ineffective PPE use, self-isolation and poor social distancing, which expectedly shows upward trend of the spread of the COVID-19. Ultimately, governments and industry can apply the predicted trends, as well as apply the model to specific settings, to make more informed decisions on the additional measures and preventative strategies to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Download Full-text

Occupational Stressors and Safety Behaviour among Oil and Gas Workers in Kuwait: The Mediating Role of Mental Health and Fatigue

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182111700 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (21) ◽

pp. 11700

Author(s):

Anwar S. Alroomi ◽

Sherif Mohamed

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Health Anxiety ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Study Data ◽

Living Environment ◽

Occupational Stressors ◽

Gas Field ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Safety Behaviour

This paper provides an examination of direct and mediated relationships among occupational stressors (responsibilities towards family and living environment), mental health (anxiety and depression), fatigue (physical and mental fatigue), and safety behaviour (safety compliance and safety participation). In this cross-sectional study, data were collected by means of a questionnaire among oil and gas workers (foreign employees working at a remote oil and gas field site located in Kuwait), during a two-month period (November–December 2018). Regression analyses (bivariate and hierarchical), carried out on 387 responses, were employed to test the links between occupational stressors, mental health, fatigue, and safety behaviour in the hypothesised model. The results provide support for the direct relationship in the model, in that both responsibilities towards family and living environment predicted safety behaviour participation. Further, the results provide partial support for the mediated relationships in the model, as mental health and fatigue were found to mediate the relationship of responsibilities towards family and living environment with safety participation behaviour. It is concluded that occupational stressors have a negative effect on safety behaviour, while mental health and fatigue can operate as risk factors. Given this, it is recommended that organisations need to enhance remote oil and gas workers’ safety behaviour by encouraging them to effectively balance their stress, mental health, and level of fatigue. This can be achieved by actions such as promoting spirituality, boosting workers’ resilience, providing recreational facilities and encouraging communications.

Download Full-text