ABSTRACT
Oil and gas installations are particularly hazardous both for personnel and the environment. The oil and gas industry has traditionally relied upon generic human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) standards for equipment design, overlooking the other aspects of the HF/E systems approach, including the characteristics of the users, tasks, working environment, and organizational factors. Relatively recently, however, following high-prole accidents, the industry has started to consider human contributions to major accident risks. Recent initiatives by industry bodies, regulators, and
Practitioner Summary ............................................................................................ 227 A Challenging Environment ..................................................................................228 Drivers for HF/E in Oil and Gas ............................................................................ 229 Human Factors in Oil and Gas Capital Projects .................................................... 229
Future Directions for HF/E Integration in Projects ......................................230 Assessing Human Factors in Oil and Gas Operations ........................................... 231
Before You Go .............................................................................................. 232 Understanding the Safety Case ..................................................................... 232 Other Available Sources ................................................................................234 HF/E Topics .................................................................................................. 235 Useful Things to Take Offshore .................................................................... 236 People to Meet .............................................................................................. 237 Professionalism Offshore .............................................................................. 238 Forming Conclusions and Giving Feedback ................................................. 238 Writing the Report ........................................................................................ 239
Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 239 References .............................................................................................................. 239
major operating companies are now starting to get HF/E taken seriously. To fully realize the potential of the formal HF/E analyses, they should be carried out into the work planning and operational procedures. This chapter looks at HF/E in oil and gas from the viewpoints of major capital projects and assesses HF in the operating asset.
