PERSONALITY, STRESS AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS-INDUSTRY

The relationships between stress, personality and accident involvement were assessed in a 1 yr follow-up study among 360 personnel working on offshore drilling rigs and production platforms. Both the Type A coronary prone behaviour pattern and the 'neuroticism' dimension of personality were associated with increased accident involvement, reported job dissatisfaction, poor mental health, and higher levels of perceived stress at work and at home than among Type Bs and the more 'stable' personality types. Although more extraverts reported accidents, it was observed that many introverts and ambiverts had also been involved in incidents leading to personal injury. No significant differences in reported stress levels or stress manifestations (i.e. job satisfaction, mental health, alcohol or tobacco usage) were observed between introverts and extraverts. A Type-B predisposition existed in the offshore environment, and some self-selection into particular aspects of offshore work were evidenced. It is suggested that the use of personality assessment in the selection process would be beneficial to the industry, and might help to answer some of the questions about causality, raised from the findings of this survey. © 1991.