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Situation awareness and safety in offshore drill crews

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Abstract

In many industrial settings, the situation awareness (SA) of workers needs to be maintained at a high level to ensure the safety of their operation. This is particularly relevant to offshore oil-drilling and gas-drilling crews, given the interactive and hazardous nature of their work. This paper presents a review of SA in drilling incidents and results from interviews with oil and gas industry drilling personnel regarding SA in this environment. Accident analysis showed that most errors in SA (67%) occurred at the perceptual level, 20% occurred at comprehension, and 13% arose during projection. Interview findings concluded that isolation from events at home was perceived to be the largest contributory factor for reducing awareness, followed by fatigue and stress. Character change was the most cited indicator of reduced awareness, and communication was thought to be the best method of increasing awareness. Consistency, cohesion, adaptability, and trust were identified as requirements for good team SA.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all those drilling staff who gave up their valuable time to participate in the interviews. This research is sponsored by a studentship from Shell Exploration & Production (European ONEgas Asset). The views presented here are those of the authors and should not be taken to represent the position or policy of the funding body.

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  1. Anne Sneddon

    Present address: Ineos Manufacturing Scotland Limited, P.O. Box 21, Bo'ness Road, Grangemouth, FK3 9XH, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Psychology Research Centre, School of Psychology, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Old Aberdeen, AB24 2UB, UK

    Anne Sneddon, Kathryn Mearns & Rhona Flin

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  1. Anne Sneddon
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Correspondence to Anne Sneddon.

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Sneddon, A., Mearns, K. & Flin, R. Situation awareness and safety in offshore drill crews. Cogn Tech Work 8, 255–267 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-006-0040-1

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