Human Factors and Resilience Engineering Program for Safety Culture Enhancement

Safety culture enhancement is currently the most studied approach for HSE performance improvements in the oil and gas industry. However, the conception and implementation of a correspondent program or action plan is still a challenge. This study presents the structure, analysis and results of a human factors and resilience engineering study conducted by Libra Joint Venture and PUCRS. The objective is to build a human factors program focusing on safety culture enhancement in offshore drilling and FPSO operations. Oil and gas offshore operations can be considered complex social-technical systems with multiple tight-coupling interactions. For this reason, the study’s approach was multidisciplinary, involving professionals from areas of Resilience Engineering, Knowledge Engineering, Knowledge Management, Sociology, Social Service and Environment. The research project consisted of data collection, data analysis and recommendations proposition, validation and prioritization. Tools and methodologies used include interviews, biographic narratives, focus group, workshops, observation, questionnaires and Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM), a systemic analysis methodology widely used in Aviation Industry, to model work as done. A great part of these tools were applied onboard a drillship and a FPSO, both currently operating in the Pre-Salt Area, in Santos Basin. As the main results, this work provides important field observations and oil and gas industry prioritized recommendations for conceiving a Human Factors Program for offshore operations, with the aim of increasing safety and resilience of the system, which ultimately will reduce risk exposure and avoid accidents.