Improving safety performance in the Nigerian oil and gas construction industry through human factor engineering

Background The Nigerian Oil and Gas construction industry faces challenges in incident prevention due to conflicting factors, including inadequate resource allocation, prioritization of quality and production over safety, communication gaps, insufficient supervision, poor workplace design, low risk perception, limited management commitment, worker incompetence, deficient design systems, and planning deficiencies. This research aims to develop a human factor engineering (HFE) model that supports the prevention of losses in Oil and Gas construction activities in Nigeria by assessing the influence of human factors on workers' behavior and organizational safety culture. Methods The study involved skilled construction workers with a minimum of two years of experience in upstream, downstream, and midstream sectors. Data collection utilized a descriptive study design with self-administered, structured questionnaires. IBM SPSS AMOS Structural Equation Modeling software was used for data analysis. Results The results indicate statistically significant Pearson's correlation coefficients between human factors and organizational safety culture, with p-values of 0.003, 0.002, 0.004, 0.009, and 0.002 for workplace, task, personal, organizational, and design factors, respectively. The structural equation regression model reveals statistically significant human factors and organizational safety culture, with path coefficients of -0.888, 2.630, -1.59, 4.645, and 0.492 for personal, organizational, workplace, design, and task factors, respectively. Conclusions The research concludes that engineered human factors contribute to improved safety performance in the Oil and Gas construction industry. To enhance safety, the study recommends that the Nigerian government establishes a construction safety board, organizations implement integrated contractor construction health and safety management systems, and workers take personal responsibility for their safety.