Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 32759
Improving the Safety Performance of Workers by Assessing the Impact of Safety Culture on Workers’ Safety Behaviour in Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry: A Pilot Study in the Niger Delta Region

Authors: Efua Ehiaguina, Haruna Moda

Abstract:

Interest in the development of appropriate safety culture in the oil and gas industry has taken centre stage among stakeholders in the industry. Human behaviour has been identified as a major contributor to occupational accidents, where abnormal activities associated with safety management are taken as normal behaviour. Poor safety culture is one of the major factors that influence employee’s safety behaviour at work, which may consequently result in injuries and accidents and strengthening such a culture can improve workers safety performance. Nigeria oil and gas industry has contributed to the growth and development of the country in diverse ways. However, in terms of safety and health of workers, this industry is a dangerous place to work as workers are often exposed to occupational safety and health hazard. To ascertain the impact of employees’ safety and how it impacts health and safety compliance within the local industry, online safety culture survey targeting frontline workers within the industry was administered covering major subjects that include; perception of management commitment and style of leadership; safety communication method and its resultant impact on employees’ behaviour; employee safety commitment and training needs. The preliminary result revealed that 54% of the participants feel that there is a lack of motivation from the management to work safely. In addition, 55% of participants revealed that employers place more emphasis on work delivery over employee’s safety on the installation. It is expected that the study outcome will provide measures aimed at strengthening and sustaining safety culture in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Keywords: Oil and gas safety, safety behaviour, safety culture, safety compliance.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1169

References:


[1] Ejiba, I.V., Onya, S.C. and Adams, O.K., 2016. Impact of oil pollution on livelihood: evidence from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Journal of Scientific Research and Reports, pp.1-12.doi.org/10.9734/JSRR/2016/26633W.-K.
[2] Elenwo, E.I. and Akankali, J.A., 2014. Environmental policies and strategies in Nigeria oil and gas industry: gains, challenges and prospects. Natural Resources, 5(14), p.884. doi.org/10.4236/nr.2014.514076B.
[3] Vaaland, T.I., Soneye, A.S. and Owusu, R.A., 2012. Local content and struggling suppliers: A network analysis of Nigerian oil and gas industry. African Journal of Business Management, 6(15), pp.5399-5413. doi.org/10.5897/AJBM11.2538J.
[4] Elum, Z.A., Mopipi, K. and Henri-Ukoha, A., 2016. Oil exploitation and its socioeconomic effects on the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23(13),pp.12880-12889. doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6864-1Y.
[5] Anumadu, U.S., Dosunmu, A., Anyanwu, C., Ekeinde, E. and Odagme, B., 2014, August. Evaluation of Safety Performance and Compliance of Workers in Selected Oil and Companies in Nigeria. In SPE Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition. Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi.org/10.2118/172347-MS
[6] Ezejiofor, T.I.N., Ezejiofor, A.N., Orisakwe, O.E., Nwigwe, H.C., Osuala, F.O. and Iwuala, M.O., 2014. Anicteric hepatoxicity: a potential health risk of occupational exposures in Nigerian petroleum oil refining and distribution industry. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 9(1), p.3. doi.org/10.1186/1745-6673-9-3
[7] Ismail, F., Hashim, A.E., Zuriea, W., Ismail, W., Kamarudin, H. and Baharom, Z.A., 2012. Behaviour based approach for quality and safety environment improvement: Malaysian experience in the oil and gas industry. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 35, pp.586-594. doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.02.125
[8] Dahl, Ø., & Kongsvik, T. (2018). Safety climate and mindful safety practices in the oil and gas industry. Journal of Safety Research, 64, 29–36. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2017.12.009.
[9] Nielsen, K. J. (2014). Improving safety culture through the health and safety organization: A case study. Journal of Safety Research, 48, 7–17. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2013.10.003.
[10] Zaira, M.M. and Hadikusumo, B.H., 2017. Structural equation model of integrated safety intervention practices affecting the safety behaviour of workers in the construction industry. Safety science, 98, pp.124-135. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.06.007
[11] Kvalheim, S. A., & Dahl, Ø. (2016). Safety compliance and safety climate: A repeated cross- sectional study in the oil and gas industry. Journal of Safety Research, 59, 33–41. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2016.10.006.
[12] Okoye, P. U., &Okolie, K. C. (2017). Assessment of Human Environment Interactions on Health and Safety Behaviour of Construction Workers. International Journal of Neuroscience and Behavioral Science, 5, 27–43. doi.org/10.1155/2017/8496258.
[13] Blackmon, R. B., & Gramopadhye, A. K. (1995). Improving construction safety by providing positive feedback on backup alarms. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 121, 166–171. doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(1995)121:2(166).
[14] Martin, J.E., Rivas, T., Matías, J.M., Taboada, J. and Argüelles, A., 2009. A Bayesian network analysis of workplace accidents caused by falls from a height. Safety Science, 47(2), pp.206-214. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.03.004
[15] Zahoor, H., Chan, A.P., Gao, R. and Utama, W.P., 2017. The factors contributing to construction accidents in Pakistan: their prioritization using the Delphi technique. Engineering, construction and architectural management, 24(3), pp.463-485. doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-01-2016-0027
[16] Li, H., Lu, M., Hsu, S.C., Gray, M., & Huang, T. (2015). Proactive behavior-based safety management for construction safety improvement. Safety Science, 75, 107–117. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.01.013.
[17] Yin, W., Fu, G., Yang, C., Jiang, Z., Zhu, K. and Gao, Y., 2017. Fatal gas explosion accidents on Chinese coal mines and the characteristics of unsafe behaviors: 2000-2014. Safety science, 92, pp.173-179. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2016.09.018
[18] Awolusi, I. G. & Marks, E. D. (2016). Safety activity analysis framework to evaluate safety performance in construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143, p.05016022. doi.org/10.1061/ (ASCE) CO.1943-7862.0001265.
[19] Fang, D., Wu, C., & Wu, H. (2015). Impact of the supervisor on worker safety behavior in construction projects. Journal of Management in Engineering, 31, 04015001. doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000355.
[20] Bronkhorst, B., 2015. Behaving safely under pressure: The effects of job demands, resources, and safety climate on employee physical and psychosocial safety behavior. Journal of safety research, 55, pp.63-72. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2015.09.002
[21] Mohammadfam, I., Ghasemi, F., Kalatpour, O., & Moghimbeigi, A. (2017). Constructing a Bayesian network model for improving safety behavior of employees at workplaces. Applied Ergonomics, 58, 35–47. doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2016.05.006.
[22] Antonsen, S. (2009). The relationship between culture and safety on offshore supply vessels. Safety Science, 47, 1118–1128. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.006.
[23] Noort, M. C., Reader, T. W., Shorrock, S., & Kirwan, B. (2016). The relationship between national culture and safety culture: Implications for international safety culture assessments. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89, 515–538. doi.org/10.1111/joop.12139.
[24] Nordlof, H., Wiitavaara, B., Winblad, U., Wijk, K. and Westerling, R., 2015. Safety culture and reasons for risk-taking at a large steel-manufacturing company: investigating the worker perspective. Safety science, 73, pp.126-135. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2014.11.020
[25] Adugbo. D. (2017). “Oily but deadly: How 308 deaths hunts oil sector”. Daily Trust. https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/oily-but-deadly-how-308-deaths-haunt-oil-sector.html (Nov. 28, 2017).
[26] Zohar, D., 1980. Safety climate in industrial organizations: theoretical and applied implications. Journal of applied psychology, 65(1), p.96. doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.65.1.96
[27] Mearns, K., Flin, R., Gordon, R. and Fleming, M., 1998. Measuring safety climate on offshore installations. Work & Stress, 12(3), pp.238-254.doi.org/10.1080/02678379808256864
[28] Neal, A., Griffin, M.A. and Hart, P.M., 2000. The impact of organizational climate on safety climate and individual behavior. Safety science, 34(1-3), pp.99-109.doi.org/10.1016/S0925-7535(00)00008-4
[29] Vinodkumar, M.N. and Bhasi, M., 2010. Safety management practices and safety behaviour: Assessing the mediating role of safety knowledge and motivation. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 42(6), pp.2082-2093. doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2010.06.021
[30] Frazier, C. B., Ludwig, T. D., Whitaker, B., & Roberts, D. S. (2013). A hierarchical factor analysis of a safety culture survey. Journal of Safety Research, 45, 15–28. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2012.10.015.
[31] Mearns, K., Whitaker, S.M. and Flin, R., 2003. Safety climate, safety management practice and safety performance in offshore environments. Safety science, 41(8), pp.641-680. doi.org/10.1016/S0925-7535 (02)00011-5
[32] Thabane, L., Ma, J., Chu, R., Cheng, J., Ismaila, A., Rios, L.P., Robson, R., Thabane, M., Giangregorio, L. and Goldsmith, C.H., 2010. A tutorial on pilot studies: the what, why and how. BMC medical research methodology, 10(1), p.1.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-10-1
[33] Tavakol, M. and Dennick, R., 2011. Making sense of Cronbach's alpha. International journal of medical education, 2, p.53. doi.org/10.5116/ijme.4dfb.8dfd
[34] Gallagher, M.W. and Brown, T.A., 2013. Introduction to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. In Handbook of quantitative methods for educational research (pp. 289-314). Springer, Rotterdam.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-404-8_14
[35] Bentler, P.M., 2007. On tests and indices for evaluating structural models. Personality and Individual differences, 42(5), pp.825-829.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.09.024
[36] Swedler, D.I., Verma, S.K., Huang, Y.H., Lombardi, D.A., Chang, W.R., Brennan, M. and Courtney, T.K., 2015. A structural equation modelling approach examining the pathways between safety climate, behaviour performance and workplace slipping. Occup Environ Med, 72(7), pp.476-481.doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2014-102496
[37] Lu, C.S. and Tsai, C.L., 2010. The effect of safety climate on seafarers' safety behaviors in container shipping. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 42(6), pp.1999-2006.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2010.06.008
[38] Edwards, J.R., Davey, J. and Armstrong, K., 2013. Returning to the roots of culture: A review and re-conceptualisation of safety culture. Safety science, 55, pp.70-80.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2013.01.004.
[39] Boughaba, A., Hassane, C., & Roukia, O. (2014). Safety culture assessment in petrochemical industry: a comparative study of two Algerian plants. Safety and Health at Work, 5,60–65. doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2014.03.005.
[40] Mearns, K., & Yule, S. (2009). The role of national culture in determining safety performance: Challenges for the global oil and gas industry. Safety Science, 47, 777–785. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.01.009.
[41] Olsen, E. (2010). Exploring the possibility of a common structural model measuring associations between safety climate factors and safety behaviour in health care and the petroleum sectors. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 42, 1507–1516. doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2010.02.002.
[42] Parker, D., Lawrie, M. and Hudson, P., 2006. A framework for understanding the development of organisational safety culture. Safety science, 44(6), pp.551-562. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2005.10.004
[43] Lu, C.S. and Yang, C.S., 2010. Safety leadership and safety behavior in container terminal operations. Safety science, 48(2), pp.123-134. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2009.05.003
[44] Ayim Gyekye, S. and Salminen, S., 2010. Organizational safety climate and work experience. International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics, 16(4), pp.431-443. doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2010.11076856
[45] Nævestad, T. O. (2017). Safety culture, working conditions and personal injuries in Norwegian maritime transport. Marine Policy, 84, 251–262. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2017.07.019.