HESA6024 Health and Safety : UK oil and Gas Sector

Health and safety is the very first thing that company takes care about for its employees. The significance of human factor on such matter is seen focusing on the employee’s health by maintaining a proper record about each and every employee who works for the company. It is important for the oil and gas factory to satisfy these human factors in order to achieve greater profits. These human factors play a major role in promoting company’s name at a higher level in the market. The target of the company generally remains on marking a stamp in the market for which it depends on the employees working in the industry (Zanko and Dawson, 2012).

Issue of stress, depression, and fatigue in the workplace

The issue of stress, depression, and fatigue in the workplace is a very common issue that is seen in employees working for the organization. Work done in oil and gas industry is not less than any difficult job. People working in such organizations are always depressed as they have to go through various such tasks that require a lot of time and energy (Werner, Vink, Watt and Jagals, 2015). They are in stress because of the kind of work they do. One of the major cause which leads to fatigue in the workplace is the stress. Fatigue is seen at the workplace when the people become extremely tired of working in the company and start developing the illness. This stress should be accepted by the employees in order to give better performance in the organization. The effect of fatigue seen in the workplace sometimes influence on the safety of the public.  Thus, the stress and depression have a great Impact on the lives of people which causes fatigue in the organization (Lèfstedt, 2011). It also affects the goodwill and reputation of the company.

Business case for health and safety policies and training to mitigate human factors

Since oil and gas sector have a risk on the lives of employees relating to health and safety. The company recommends the employees of the organization to follow the policies that come under the rules of providing good care to the workers.  The policies are made to keep a track on the lives of the people concerning their health. The company takes care of not only the physical health of its employees but also conducts different seminars to keep them mentally fit for work also (Chan, 2011). The human factor of the company is largely connected with the employees working in the organization. Special training is provided to the employees in order to generate better outputs and earn greater profits. The health and safety policies of the business make the overall growth of the workers and keep them interested in working in the business. The policy of health and safety is highly recommended in the oil and gas company as it goes with various issues (Hale and Borys, 2013). So, in order to keep the employees over safe atmosphere, they provide such perks and other benefits to the workers. The training helps them in growing with the culture of the company and allows them to understand what the business demands from them and how it functions. Training helps the members of the organization to understand the business procedure followed in the companies producing oil and gas.  The training is provided in order to give a proper guidance to the people of how well they have to work to fulfill the demands of the company (Finkel and Hays, 2013).

Working hours, shift work patterns and shift handover

Since oil and gas industries need a full-time protection hence it has the workers are taught to be alert every time. They have their working hours set for each and every worker. In the allotted working hours they assigned with various duties and task which they are asked to complete within the time allotted or till the time they are expected to be in the industry. Since it becomes difficult for the employees to give full daytime in the business hence oil and gas industries provide working shit patterns to its workers. The time is allotted to each and every individual on the basis of their capacity (Sneddon, Mearns and Flin, 2013). There are two shifts mainly; morning shift and night shift. The employees working in morning shift finish their duty and the employees of night shifts take their place. They hand over the shifts and other scheduled employees are asked to manage their work effectively and efficiently.  The working hours are made in such a manner that it suits the workers and they can easily fulfill their duty. Oil and gas industries follow the concept of keeping shift work patterns so that they can achieve their desired goal. The average working time has been fixed by the UK government. The normal working hours should not be more than 48 hours in a week. A person can do work maximum 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.This makes it comfortable for the employees and also the progress of the organization remains maintained. Shifts are provided by the company for employee’s comfort and effective work. Even the employees have the opportunity of handing over the shifts to other employees if they agree to take their place, else the relief is provided by the company by replacing them with other supplements of the organization (Fossum, Bjorvatn, Waage and Pallesen, 2013).

Human error and accidents

Oil and gas industries have chances of risking lives of people. The company of such kind works well only when there is a proper care given towards each and every section of the business. Any kind of failure may risk the lives of many people. So it is advised to keep all the necessary protection in the organization to avoid such kind of issues. There could be chances of fire, slipping, getting hurt during any physical activity or any other error made by a human that can cause minor or major accidents (Shonkoff, Hays and Finkel, 2014). To avoid such accidents the organization has to take proper measures like keeping enough amount of fire extinguishers in the firm that is generally required. The error made by humans generally comes with disadvantages for the company and leads to such accidents that generally does not expect. In order to avoid such accidents, workers are trained about how they should react in such areas and conditions. Errors made by humans generally have a great impact that causes wrong happenings in the company like oil and gas, so it is recommended to have a proper planning while working on such tasks (Parkes, 2015).

Training and development needs of employees relating to health and safety legislation

Training and development needs of employees relate to the rules and regulations of the industries that are designed for the betterment of the company. There are different ways of providing training to the employees. It includes formal training, mentoring and also on-the-job training. They are taught about the working of the company even after being hired and working for the company already (Hale and Borys, 2013). Training helps the workers to understand the duty very well, follow the policies and rules in a disciplined manner. They get training regarding safety and health. There are different legislations made in order to provide greater prospects to the employees rather than compromising with their health.  These legislations are in favor of the employees and provide help with various safety measures.  The laws not only help the employees by reducing the stress but also show a way to the industry to plan accordingly (Raufflet, Cruz, and Bres, 2014).

According to The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 it is mandatory for the employer to provide all the information to the company about their health. The company takes all necessary measures which enable them in performing their task in a better manner.  In addition, Regulation 203 states that representative of safety and health must attend the courses of training in the beginning 12 months after being selected (Tisserand and Young, 2013).

The legislation of health and safety helps in regulating the workplace standards. The aim of such legislation is to avoid the accidents, diseases and other issues pertaining in stopping the growth of the company. The legislation is made for the employees to take care of their health without getting stressed about the job and their payments. They are given the right to refuse to do the job irrespective of compromising with their health. It is mandatory for them to let the company know about their sufferings so that a certain time period company can make better arrangements. This is done to avoid lapses in the business (Dickey, Watson and Zangelidis, 2011).

Feedback from employees regarding health and safety issues in the workplace 

Since health and safety is the major concern for people working in oil and gas industries, therefore the company asks the employees to give their feedback according to their comfort zone. Also asking for employee’s opinion will make them feel about the concern of the organization that is in the hearts of the company for its employees. The feedback could result in some betterment in the policies of health and safety (Spence, 2011). The company gets a chance for adding some necessary issue which it forgets about. The feedback is taken from the employees because they are the ones who mainly suffer from such issues. Hence, it is possible for them to tell the company about the problems faced by them while working. The feedback given by the employees is observed closely by the organization and if the issue comes out to be relevant then major steps are taken by the company. The ultimate aim of the company is to achieve its desired goals and objectives. So as to achieve this goal it is important for them to take a good care of its employees. Asking for feedback from the employees will interest them and make them more passionate to work. Employees provide a better feedback regarding these health and safety issues as they are the one who goes through such problems (Underhill and Quinlan, 2011).

Statistics related to human factors in the oil and gas sector- for example from the HSE (Health and Safety Executive)

(Source: Chakrabarty UK, 2010)

In the above diagram, the statistical relation is shown between the number of accidents happened in a particular year. This reduces the number of the human factor in business (Graisa and Al-Habaibeh, 2011).

Slips, lapses, mistakes, violations or breaking the rules and exceptional violations

Slips can be understood as the actions that are not carried away by any intention or planning. The actions and omissions that are generally missed due to loss of memory are called as lapses. And mistakes are those errors that an employee in an organization commits unknowingly. The occurrence of slips while doing the task is at the executive stage, lapses are seen at the storage stage i.e. memory stage and planning stage involves mistakes. The errors seen in an organization that is done by humans are referred as violations. Violations are the illegitimate actions and it differs from slips, lapses, and mistakes. These are the practices that come with the rules and where the procedure is not followed properly (Du and Vieira, 2012).

(Source: Crew resource management, 2017)

Examples relating to health safety in the UK oil and gas sector

  Substantial contribution to the oil and gas industry is given by industries of UK. The UK adds the contribution in the economy of the country. For example, In Tullow Company of UK follows this policy of health safety which helps them to keep a track record of the employees working in the organization. In Afren Company of UK, this policy has helped a large number of employees by providing them health benefits such as conducting health seminars relating to health which guides them (Perrons and Jensen, 2015). These two companies and various other companies of UK have been benefited with health and safety legislation and it is developing with lesser difficulties (Shuen, Feiler and Teece, 2014).

Conclusion 

On the above discussion, it has been concluded that Health and safety legislation and policies play an integral and vital role in oil and gas industry in the UK. Various factors such as Depression, stress, harassment, and fatigue affect the business activities and operations negatively. The company must focus on the welfare of the employees. Various health and safety rules and regulations have been made by the government to maximize and increase the revenue and profit of the company. The organization must collect feedback from employees to analyze and evaluate the performance of the workers. The companies have fixed shift timing and shift handover patterns in the UK to provide job satisfaction and job security to the workers.

References 

Chan, M., 2011. Fatigue: the most critical accident risk in oil and gas construction. Construction Management and Economics, 29(4), pp.341-353.

Dickey, H., Watson, V. and Zangelidis, A., 2011. Job satisfaction and quit intentions of offshore workers in the UK North Sea oil and gas industry. Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 58(5), pp.607-633.

Du, S. and Vieira, E.T., 2012. Striving for legitimacy through corporate social responsibility: Insights from oil companies. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(4), pp.413-427.

Finkel, M.L. and Hays, J., 2013. The implications of unconventional drilling for natural gas: a global public health concern. Public Health, 127(10), pp.889-893.

Fossum, I.N., Bjorvatn, B., Waage, S. and Pallesen, S., 2013. Effects of shift and night work in the offshore petroleum industry: a systematic review. Industrial health, 51(5), pp.530-544.

Graisa, M. and Al-Habaibeh, A., 2011. An investigation into current production challenges facing the Libyan cement industry and the need for innovative total productive maintenance (TPM) strategy. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 22(4), pp.541-558.

Hale, A. and Borys, D., 2013. Working to rule or working safely? Part 2: The management of safety rules and procedures. Safety science, 55, pp.222-231.

Lèfstedt, R., 2011. Reclaiming health and safety for all: An independent review of health and safety legislation (Vol. 8219). The Stationery Office.

Parkes, K.R., 2015. Shift rotation, overtime, age, and anxiety as predictors of offshore sleep patterns. Journal of occupational health psychology, 20(1), p.27.

Perrons, R.K. and Jensen, J.W., 2015. Data as an asset: What the oil and gas sector can learn from other industries about “Big Data”. Energy Policy, 81, pp.117-121.

Raufflet, E., Cruz, L.B. and Bres, L., 2014. An assessment of corporate social responsibility practices in the mining and oil and gas industries. Journal of Cleaner production, 84, pp.256-270.

Shonkoff, S.B., Hays, J. and Finkel, M.L., 2014. Environmental public health dimensions of shale and tight gas development. Environmental Health Perspectives, 122(8), p.787.

Shuen, A., Feiler, P.F. and Teece, D.J., 2014. Dynamic capabilities in the upstream oil and gas sector: Managing next generation competition. Energy Strategy Reviews, 3, pp.5-13.

Sneddon, A., Mearns, K. and Flin, R., 2013. Stress, fatigue, situation awareness and safety in offshore drilling crews. Safety Science, 56, pp.80-88.

Spence, D.B., 2011. Corporate social responsibility in the oil and gas industry: The importance of reputational risk. Chi.-Kent L. Rev., 86, p.59.

Tisserand, R. and Young, R., 2013. Essential Oil Safety-E-Book: A Guide for Health Care Professionals. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Underhill, E. and Quinlan, M., 2011. How precarious employment affects health and safety at work: the case of temporary agency workers. Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, 66(3), pp.397-421.

Werner, A.K., Vink, S., Watt, K. and Jagals, P., 2015. Environmental health impacts of unconventional natural gas development: a review of the current strength of evidence. Science of the Total Environment, 505, pp.1127-1141.

Yusuf, Y.Y., Gunasekaran, A., Musa, A., El-Berishy, N.M., Abubakar, T. and Ambursa, H.M., 2013. The UK oil and gas supply chains: An empirical analysis of adoption of sustainable measures and performance outcomes. International Journal of Production Economics, 146(2), pp.501-514.

Zanko, M. and Dawson, P., 2012. Occupational health and safety management in organizations: A review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14(3), pp.328-344.