Human error, the cause of major incidents that occurred within the offshore oil and gas industry

Human performance and behaviour are viewed as contributing factors in most accidents within process plants. If the rate of accidents occurrences is to be reduced, Gambetti et al (2012) advises that human factors be better understood and that understanding be broadly applied. The main objective of this research study is to investigate whether human error is the cause of major incidents that occurred within the offshore oil and gas industry. The investigation is conducted via a human error evaluation framework that is developed by the research team, specific to analysing incident's causes within the offshore oil and gas industry. The secondary aim of this research is to investigate whether the propositioned human error evaluation framework is an adequate tool in conducting an incident investigation, with the aim of finding the cause of the incident. A total of eight case studies are evaluated via a human error evaluation framework in order to determine specific causes. The results indicate that most incidents that occurred within the offshore oil and gas industry are due to specific factors, namely management systems; work environment and human factors. The results from the evaluation indicates that management systems are accountable for 47% of offshore oil and gas incidents, while work environment factors are responsible for 27% of incidents of offshore oil and gas industry. Human factors is responsible for 27% of offshore oil and gas incidents. To successfully address human failure issues, it is recommended that a human factors approach be taken by oil and gas organisations.