Risk perception and safety in Norwegian offshore workers
- Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology, Trondheim (Norway)
The relationships between perception of risk, behavior and involvement in accidents are receiving increased attention in the offshore oil industry. How employees perceive the risk they are exposed to during the conduct of their work may contribute to an understanding of risk management and thereby to the safety of their working conditions. A self-completion questionnaire survey was carried out among employees on a representative sample of offshore oil installations in the Norwegian part of the North Sea in 1990. In 1994 a follow-up study was carried out. A total of 915 respondents replied to our questionnaire in 1990 and 1138 in 1994. The studies were financed by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. There were significantly fewer of the personnel who felt at risk in 1994 compared to 1990 and a greater percentage of the personnel were satisfied with the safety and contingency measures and experienced job stress to a greater extent in 1990 than they did in 1994. Emotional reactions caused by potentially-hazardous risk sources were dependent on the respondents perceived controllability of the risk sources. The study also showed that there were significant positive correlations between organizational factors, safety status, perceived risk, and accidents. However, safety cannot be improved by changing risk perception. It is the factors that cause variations in risk perception as well as behavior and safety which should be the focus of safety promotion.
- OSTI ID:
- 414720
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960623--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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