Human Factors Engineering (HFE): What It Is And How It Can Be Used To Reduce Human Errors In The Offshore Industry
Authors: Miller G.E. 
Published: October 2008

Because human errors are the primary cause of the majority of offshore accidents, many companies have initiated safety programs to reduce these errors. However, these efforts are being primarily concentrated in the areas of training, procedures, and in a few cases, attempts to modify employee behavior to ingrain a safe working attitude. There is nothing wrong with these approaches, but there is much more to the "human element" than just these three areas. There are at least eight elements of human behavior that must be considered when attempting to reduce human errors on offshore structures, and all are covered within Human Factors Engineering (HFE). HFE is a specialized profession that works with known human physical, social, and psychological capabilities and limitations to create a working environment which maximizes the human's contribution to safety in the work place. Although a few offshore companies have begun to use HFE on a regular basis to design, manage, and operate their offshore facilities, in general the offshore industry continues to ignore the contributions HFE can make to a safer work environment. Further, the reasons typically given by offshore companies for not using HFE have been proven to be not valid by those companies who have used HFE to date.

Introduction

Over the past five years considerable discussion and attention has been given in the offshore industry to the role of the "human element" as the cause of, or contributor to, accidents and incidents on offshore facilities. Supporting this concern is a study performed by the University of California at Berkeley, which found that 80% of all offshore accidents in U.S. waters were due to human error (1). Today, many companies are addressing the problem and have initiated solutions to reduce the incidences of human induced errors on their facilities. However, the solutions adopted so far have centered only on more training, better procedures, and/or behavioral based safety programs.

The reliance on more training, procedures and/or behavior modification programs to reduce human errors on offshore facilities is understandable. Everyone accepts that training is required, and correctly prepared procedures ("correctly prepared" are the key words here since most procedures now used in the offshore industry are not) make the task at hand easy and straightforward. Finally, the concept of behavior modification, long known but only recently "discovered" by the offshore industry, holds promise as one contributor to the reduction of human error offshore. However, none of the above methods, taken individually or in concert, is THE answer to the reduction of human induced accidents and incidents in the offshore domain.

There are other factors to the "human element" equation, which contribute to safety in the offshore workplace, but these normally go unnoticed, and non-addressed. As one example, few persons in company management positions or regulatory agencies appear aware of the basic human needs and performance requirements (e.g. homeostasis of risk, spatial relationships, cultural expectations, etc.) which all offshore workers possess, and which must be satisfied in the design of the workplace in order for the worker to reach his/her maximum performance and safety potential. Without satisfying these requirements, a poorly designed system or individual piece of equipment can actually induce or encourage even the most safety conscious and well trained employee into unsafe acts, particularly in times of stress.