Situational awareness and safety

This paper considers the applicability of situation awareness concepts to safety in the control of complex systems. Much of the research to date has been conducted in aviation, which has obvious safety implications. It is argued that the concepts could be extended to other safety critical domains. The paper presents three theories of situational awareness: the three-level model, the interactive sub-systems approach, and the perceptual cycle. The difference between these theories is the extent to which they emphasise process or product as indicative of situational awareness. Some data from other studies are discussed to consider the negative effects of losing situational awareness, as this has serious safety implications. Finally, the application of situational awareness to system design, and training are presented.     

Linking emotional intelligence to safety performance: The roles of situational awareness and safety training

Introduction: Safety outcomes in the workplace require individual employees to perform (behave) safely in everyday duties. While the literature suggests that emotional management capabilities or traits can be positively related to individual performance in certain conditions, it is not clear how they can influence safety-related performance in high-risk work contexts. Drawing upon trait activation theory, this paper aims to examine when emotional intelligence (EI) benefits employees’ safety performance. We propose that when employees receive inadequate safety training, EI is more likely to trigger their situational awareness and consequently promote their safety performance. Method: We collected time-lagged data from 133 full-time airplane pilots working in commercial aviation industry. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was conducted to test the moderating effect of safety training inadequacy on the EI–situational awareness relationship. The moderated mediation model, which involves conditional indirect effects of EI on safety performance via situational awareness across different levels of safety training inadequacy, was tested using the PROCESS-based bootstrap confidence interval. Results: Safety training inadequacy negatively moderated the relationship between EI and situational awareness, such that EI was significantly related to situational awareness only when safety training inadequacy was more salient. The more inadequate safety training was, the greater the indirect effect of EI on safety performance via situational awareness was. Conclusions: Inadequate safety training, as a negative situational cue, can activate individuals’ EI to drive their safety-related cognitions (e.g., situational awareness) and behaviors. Effective safety training may be able to complement employees’ low EI in shaping their situational awareness and safety behaviors. Practical Applications: Aviation managers should monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of safety training; this could make pilots’ situational awareness and safety performance depend less on personal attributes (e.g., EI), which organizations are less able to control. When training capacity is temporarily limited, priority might be given to those with low EI.     

基于事故树的空中交通管制员情景意识分析

为更系统地研究管制员的情景意识,找出导致管制员情景意识丧失的主要因素,运用事故树分析法、采用自上而下的方式对管制员情景意识丧失的原因进行逐层分析,建立管制员情景意识丧失事故树模型。通过进一步计算事故树的最小割集和各基本事件的结构重要度,计算各基本事件的结构重要度系数,对比得出情景意识丧失的各个基本事件的重要程度及各事件之间的关系。结果表明,造成情景意识丧失事故的主要原因是轮班制度不合理、睡眠效率低及对特情不熟悉、飞行冲突预判能力弱。     

Associations between sleep,risk and safety climate: A study of offshore personnel on the Norwegian continental shelf

The demands and constraints of the offshore working environment can have adverse effects on health, particularly the quality of sleep. Perceived risk and safety are significant psychological stress factors which may interfere with and deteriorate the sleep quality of offshore personnel. The present study explores the relationship between risk perception, safety climate and sleep quality. Data were collected under the auspices of the Petroleum Safety Authorities in Norway using a cross-sectional design. A total of 9601 offshore workers from 52 offshore installations on the Norwegian continental shelf participated in the study. Our findings indicate that both risk perception and safety climate are significantly related to sleep quality. The results of the present study suggest that risk perception and safety climate not only are important aspects of safety performance in the offshore industry, but also have an impact on sleep quality.     

Perceived prosocial impact,perceived situational constraints,and proactive work behavior: Looking at two distinct affective pathways

This paper examines the role of affect as a linking mechanism between experiences at work (perceived prosocial impact and situational constraints) and two distinct components of proactive work behavior (issue identification and implementation). Based on a dual‐tuning perspective, we argue that both positive affect and negative affect can be beneficial for proactive work behavior. Multi‐level path analysis using daily‐survey data from 153 employees showed that perceived prosocial impact predicted positive affect and that situational constraints as a typical hindrance stressor predicted negative affect. Negative affect, in turn, predicted issue identification, and positive affect predicted implementation. Overall, our study suggests that both positive and negative affects can be valuable in the organizational context by contributing to distinct components of proactive behavior. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fire and explosion at mutual major hazard installations: review of a case history

In industry, it is common that there are independent but related major hazard installations which compliment each other. The link between the major hazard organizations is an interface between the installations. This interface is a critical area for the mutual major hazard installations. Examples of such organizations are chemical cargo ships and their terminal storage yard, the supply vessels and platforms, floating storage tanks at offshore areas and oil tankers, two offshore platforms tied together etc. This paper summarizes the major accident at M. T. Choon Hong III Ship and Tiram Kimia Sdn. Bhd. (TKSB), and also discusses the causes which led to this major accident. It was found that the lack of integrity is the main cause behind the escalation of the fire and explosion at the Choon Hong III Ship and the TKSB. It was noted that the disaster which involved mutual major hazard installation was preceded by two incubation periods.     

Risk indicators for major hazards on offshore installations

Major hazards risk indicators are proposed for offshore installations, based on what has been used by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway for the Risk Level approach in the Norwegian offshore petroleum industry. Since 2002 also leading indicators are used, in the sense that indicators for barrier performance are included together with the lagging indicators. There are individual indicators for a number of barrier functions, including fire and gas detection, a number of safety valves, active fire protection and mustering of personnel. The performance of the leading indicators during several years of data collection as well as lessons learned from the project are discussed. This is followed by a review of how indicators may be used by individual companies, and how the lessons may be utilised by individual companies to develop risk indicators for individual installations as well as company wide indicators.     

Root causes of hydrocarbon leaks on offshore petroleum installations

Hydrocarbon leaks on offshore installations may result in severe consequences to personnel, to the environment and to assets. In order to prevent such leaks, it is crucial to understand their root causes. The objective of this paper is to study the circumstances of hydrocarbon leaks on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). In the study, all reported hydrocarbon leaks from process inventories on all offshore installations on the NCS, with an initial leak rate higher than 0.1 kg/s in the period 2008–2014, have been considered. This includes 78 hydrocarbon leaks, of which about 60% have occurred during manual intervention on normally pressurized systems. The dominating activity when leaks occur is preventive maintenance. A significant fraction of the leaks occur during the preparation for maintenance; such a preparation is typically carried out during the night shift. About half of the leaks are associated with wellhead area and manifolds, separation and compression systems. A substantial fraction of the leaks can be associated with verification faults, dominated by the failure to comply with procedural requirements that are needed to carry out independent verification.     

Safety climate,safety management practice and safety performance in offshore environments

Safety climate surveys were conducted on 13 offshore oil and gas installations in separate years (N=682 and 806, respectively), with nine installations common to both years. In addition, data on safety management practices were collected by questionnaire from senior management on eight installations in each year. The associations between management practices and climate scores with official accident statistics and self-reported accident involvement were tested via a series of hypotheses. Associations were found between certain safety climate scales and official accident statistics and also the proportion of respondents reporting an accident in the previous 12 months. Proficiency in some safety management practices was associated with lower official accident rates and fewer respondents reporting accidents.     

Evaluation of an occupational stress intervention in a public agency

Only in several controlled studies have organizational or situational stressors (in contrast to individuals) been targeted for change in order to reduce occupational stress. This study evaluates the impact of an intervention which was based on organizational development, action research and Karasek's job strain model. Employee committees conducted problem diagnosis, action planning, and action taking in two departments in a public agency. Waiting list control departments and pre- post- and follow-up assessment were utilized. Results indicated a mixed impact of the intervention in one department, but a negligible or negative impact in the other. Obstacles to the effective implementation of the intervention strategy are discussed. These included a limited focus for the committees (department-wide rather than agency-wide), the negative impact of a major agency reorganization, and the lack of a more formal management and labour commitment to maintaining the stress reduction and organizational change process.     

Characterization of a medium velocity deluge nozzle for offshore installations

It is important to study the characteristics of the nozzle of the deluge spray to comply with the standards developed by the petroleum industry for offshore installations in Norway. Due to the stochastic nature of the decomposition processes and geometrical features within the nozzle, the deluge spray has a complex flow field. Since the flow field determines the performance of the spray, the present study performs an experimental characterization of a medium velocity deluge nozzle for validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. The experiment was conducted for a maximum supply water pressure of 8.0 bar (g), which is identical to the operating pressures of offshore installations. Formerly, characterization studies of deluge or sprinkler spray were mostly targeted on residential usage with lower supply water pressures. I utilized a laser-based shadow imaging system to capture high-speed images, which were later processed in MATLAB. A linear patternator was used to validate the results of the shadow imaging technique. The geometrical features of the deluge nozzle played an important role in determining the characteristics of the spray. In addition, the supply water pressure significantly affected the size and velocity distributions of the droplets, applied density (volume flux), and area coverage. However, the Sauter mean diameter did not vary significantly with the azimuthal or radial position of the droplet within the inner region of the spray. The measurements obtained in this study can be used to estimate the extinguishing efficiency of a deluge system for offshore installations with elevated supply water pressures. Deviations between measurements with shadow imaging and patternator technique are discussed and discrepancies are discussed.     

Risk perception by offshore workers on UK oil and gas platforms

This paper reports the first investigation of risk perception by workers on offshore oil and gas installations on the UK Continental Shelf, following changes in offshore safety legislation in the wake of the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. The Offshore Safety Case regulations (Health and Safety Executive, 1992, A Guide to the Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations) put the onus on the operator to identify the major hazards and to reduce the risks to As Low As is Reasonably Practicable (ALARP). The regulations specifically state that Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA) must be used when preparing the Safety Case. However, people do not use QRA when making everyday judgements about risk; they make subjective judgements known as risk perceptions, which are influenced by a number of different factors. This study was designed to complement the extensive QRA calculations that have already been carried out in the development of Safety Cases. The aim was to measure subjective risk perception in offshore personnel and examine how this relates to the more objective risk data available, namely accident records and QRA calculations. This paper describes the Offshore Risk Perception Questionnaire developed to collect the data and reports on UK offshore workers' perceptions of the risks associated with major and minor hazards, work tasks and other activities aboard production platforms.     

Shift schedules on North Sea oil/gas installations: A systematic review of their impact on performance,safety and health

Continuous production processes on North Sea installations necessitate extended work schedules; 2-week offshore tours (alternating with shore breaks), 12 h shifts and rapid day/night shift changes are inherent features of offshore work. These intensive rosters, worked in a demanding physical and psychosocial environment, are potential sources of fatigue and impaired performance among offshore personnel. This article focuses on offshore working time arrangements, and presents a systematic review of studies which examine offshore day/night shift patterns in relation to operational safety and individual health risks. Of the 53 studies retrieved, 24 met the review criteria.Field study findings are generally consistent in showing that sleep, alertness and performance are relatively stable across day-shift tours; initial night shifts are adversely affected by circadian disruption, but full physiological and psychological adaptation occurs within 5–6 days; re-adaptation to day shifts is slower, and varies widely across individuals; the offshore environment is conducive to night-shift adaptation, but interventions to facilitate re-adaptation have proved only modestly effective. Analyses of survey data and accident/sickness records identify offshore night work as a risk factor for impaired sleep, health problems, and injuries, but little is known about the long-term health effects of different offshore shift rotations.In conclusion, research methodology and findings, and working time issues of current concern to the offshore oil/gas industry, are discussed. Aspects of offshore work schedules that have been not been widely studied (e.g. overtime, irregular work patterns) are also highlighted, and research areas that would merit further attention are noted.     

Safety climate and hydrocarbon leaks: An empirical contribution to the leading-lagging indicator discussion

Hydrocarbon (HC) leaks are important initiating events for major accidents in the oil and gas industry. This study explores the extent to which a safety climate indicator from a survey on working conditions undertaken in an oil and gas company (n = 2188) can be used as a leading and/or lagging indicator in relation to HC leaks on 28 offshore installations. It was found that more negative safety climate scores were associated with increasing numbers of HC leaks over a 12-month period following the survey. The safety climate indicator explained more of the variance in HC leaks than technical indicators. HC leaks in the 12-month period preceding the survey did also correlate significantly with the safety climate indicator. More HC leaks during this period were associated with worse scores on the safety climate indicator. Thus, the results support that the safety climate measure could serve as leading and lagging indicator for HC leaks. The results and their possible implications are discussed.     

An Overview of the Nature of Hydrocarbon Jet Fire Hazards in the Oil and Gas Industry and a Simplified Approach to Assessing the Hazards

High pressure jet fires pose a serious hazard to offshore installations operated by the oil and gas industry as demonstrated by the Piper Alpha incident. Following the Piper Alpha incident a major initiative by the offshore oil and gas industry operators led to the production of Interim Guidance Notes which provided guidance to operators on how to assess jet fire hazards. However, many areas of uncertainty were identified where no data was available. Areas of particular concern identified in the Interim Guidance Notes were two-phase jet fires, the effect of confinement on jet fires and their behaviour with water deluge. Since that time a considerable body of experimental research has been undertaken. Based on this recent data, this paper reassesses jet fire hazards in an offshore environment and provides updated guidance on the hazards they pose, including tabulated data and simple calculation techniques for predicting jet fire hazards.     

Inherently safer design in offshore oil and gas projects

Like all hazardous installations, inherently safer design (ISD) is one of the key tools in offshore oil and gas projects to minimize risks in offshore facilities. As the life cycle of offshore facilities is relatively short compared with onshore counterparts and there are many projects running every year, the potential is high for raising inherent safety standards and lowering safety risks throughout the offshore industry as old facilities are phased out. This paper gives an overview of offshore facilities and examples of implementation of ISD. Good examples of ISD are numerous. Industry guidance on ISD implementation abound. Yet, the systematic implementation of it in the industry is patchy. There are many reasons for factors which impede the effective, efficient and consistent implementation of ISD in projects. This paper describes some of them and proposes solution to address them. They include (a) the effective integration of ISD into hazard management systems with appropriate language to engage all disciplines in projects, (b) the phasing of resources to enable the project to capture ISD measures which are only available during early phases, (c) application of appropriate ISD goals and ISD performance metrics at various stages and (d) the appropriate use of quantified risk assessment to support ISD.     

Associations between risk perception and safety

The relationship between perception of risk and involvement in accidents is receiving increasing attention in the offshore oil industry. A self-completion questionnaire survey was carried out among employees on twelve offshore oil installations in 1994.¹ The number of respondents were 1138. Employee evaluations of the status of safety and contingency measures were affected by physical working conditions, attitudes towards safety and accident prevention work as well as management commitment and involvement in safety promotion. These factors were also related to job stress, perceived risk and risk behaviour. There was a significant positive correlation between perceived risk and risk behaviour, but risk perception was not found to predict risk behaviour. Risk behaviour affected accidents as well as near-misses. The possibility that safety cannot be improved by changing individual risk perception is discussed.     

社会资本对山区居民山洪灾害应急避险能力的影响研究*

为研究社会资本对山区居民应急避险能力的影响,在广泛调研的基础上采用结构方程模型分析社会资本与山区居民应急避险能力各要素之间的作用关系。结果表明:个人网络对避险知识和避险意识有显著的正向影响,对避险行为影响不显著;信任与避险知识和避险意识呈显著的正向影响,而与避险行为呈反向影响,但信任可以通过避险知识和避险意识间接正向影响避险行为;互惠对避险知识影响不显著,但互惠与避险意识和避险行为存在显著的正向关系;避险知识和避险意识对避险行为呈显著正向影响,其中避险意识对避险行为影响更为显著。因此可以通过增加山区居民社会资本的方式提高山区居民山洪灾害应急避险能力。     

海洋平台密集作业空间内H_2S扩散分析

针对含硫油气田开发生产中,硫化氢(H_2S)在振动筛房等密集作业空间内泄漏扩散造成的潜在人员毒害问题,从确定H_2S扩散规律、建立事故控制措施的角度展开分析.根据海洋平台空间环境特点,采取计算流体动力学(CFD)建立用于分析H_2S扩散过程的理论模型和数值模拟方案.就某海洋平台振动筛房在舱门关闭、打开和房内安装换气机3种条件下的H_2S扩散过程进行分析,确定H_2S浓度变化和分布规律.通过对比不同舱室条件下的H_2S影响程度,推荐在平台生产过程中封闭可能出现H_2S泄漏的舱室并安装换气机.进一步分析了换气机的工作效率,建立了简化数学模型以快速预测换气机工作时间,并与CFD结果进行了验证.