Impacts of Safety Culture in an Oil and Gas Research Laboratory in Brazil

Abstract: The oil and gas industry plays a prominent role in Brazilian and global industrial landscape. Due to the high-risk nature of this sector, companies consistently invest in research on industrial safety. Operational incidents and accidents do not stem solely from human errors, technical failures, or environmental factors but result from a combination of these and other elements. In this context, studies highlight the potential for progress through the evaluation of safety culture in high-risk industries to understand how safety-related practices and values are shared among different homogeneous groups of an organization. This includes aspects such as preventive thinking, collective responsibility, effective communication, and proactive risk management. There is no standardized formula for identifying the level of safety culture in an organization. Moreover, discrepancies in the approaches used for this evaluation are not uncommon, leading to variations in interpretations and applied methods. Against this backdrop, the objective of this research was to assess the maturity level of safety culture in the research center of a Brazilian oil and gas company and propose actions to develop safety practices within this unit. To achieve this objective, the methodology developed in the Human and Organizational Factors of Industrial Safety Project was used. This methodology is based on the principles of ergonomics and human factors, employing a mixed approach that includes quantitative, qualitative, and ethnographic phases. As a result, a quantitative and qualitative diagnosis of the safety culture maturity level was developed for each homogeneous group analyzed. The diagnosis is based on the classification proposed by the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP), which defines five levels of safety culture: resilient, proactive, managerial, reactive, and pathological, with resilient being the highest level of maturity and pathological the lowest. The research identified characteristics of reactive or pathological cultures in the unit. Key findings pointing to these levels of safety culture maturity include: (1) Blame Culture, reported by different groups and stemming from the belief that human errors are the main causes of accidents, along with investigative methods focused on assigning blame; (2) Perceived disconnect between the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) team and other teams, leading to a lack of trust and mutual support; (3) Underreporting, attributed to the excessive bureaucratic burden of incident/accident reporting processes or the absence of follow-up actions and feedback. Based on these observations, interventions were suggested, such as creating a local HSE team to promote engagement with other groups, rebuild trust, encourage reporting of anomalies, and foster improvement proposals without seeking to assign blame. Mechanisms for reporting and feedback were also proposed, including stages for discussion, resolution, and follow-up. One strategic intervention to restore trust between HSE and operational teams was the development of a new accident analysis methodology that integrates subjective, material, and organizational aspects. This research contributes to understanding and improving safety culture in oil and gas organizations, emphasizing the importance of proactive and integrated practices to prevent accidents and promote a safer work environment with active worker participation.

Keywords: Ergonomy, Oil & Gás, Safety

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1006580

Cite this paper:

​