Situation awareness and safety in offshore drill crews

In many industrial settings, the situation awareness (SA) of workers needs to be maintained at a high level to ensure the safety of their operation. This is particularly relevant to offshore oil-drilling and gas-drilling crews, given the interactive and hazardous nature of their work. This paper presents a review of SA in drilling incidents and results from interviews with oil and gas industry drilling personnel regarding SA in this environment. Accident analysis showed that most errors in SA (67%) occurred at the perceptual level, 20% occurred at comprehension, and 13% arose during projection. Interview findings concluded that isolation from events at home was perceived to be the largest contributory factor for reducing awareness, followed by fatigue and stress. Character change was the most cited indicator of reduced awareness, and communication was thought to be the best method of increasing awareness. Consistency, cohesion, adaptability, and trust were identified as requirements for good team SA. © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2006.