Investigating the role of leadership in safety outcomes within oil and gas organisations

Abstract

For many countries, the oil and gas industry is regarded as one of the most lucrative and key sources of energy. Tasks in this sector can be classified under five main stages – exploration, oil extraction, refining, transporting and marketing of oil and its byproducts. Such tasks pose substantial risks to the environment, personnel and community at large. When accidents occur in the industry, the likelihood of human fatality is very high. Organisations where safety is highly critical (i.e. high exposure to risk and likelihood of an accident) poses particular challenges for leaders. Thus, such organisations call for specific leadership/leadership behaviours, which may differ from those most effective in less safety-critical organisations. Therefore, this paper examines some key accidents in the oil and gas industry that had huge influence on the development of safety legislation. The paper is centred on the literature review and the selected accidents; based on the following themes – leadership, safety culture, safety outcomes, and safety climate. Discussion on the study carried out was presented, followed by a framework for safety leadership. Finally, this paper concludes that safety-critical organisations require leadership that influences followers to behave safely, acts as a role model and exhibits profound concern for safety.

Keywords:

• Safety
• leadership
• safety outcomes
• safety culture
• safety climate
• safety leadership framework
• key accidents in oil and gas

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Ojuola

John Ojuola is a PhD Candidate at the School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith University. His research interest includes safety leadership.

Sherif Mostafa

Dr Sherif Mostafa is a Lecturer in Construction and Engineering Project Management at Griffith University. His research expertise includes BIM integration within prefabricated buildings and digital engineering.

Sherif Mohamed

Sherif Mohamed is a Professor and Head of School of Engineering and Built Environment at Griffith University. His principal research interest is construction workplace health and safety. He is actively engaged in scholarly research work and has authored and co-authored more than 200 refereed journal and conference publications.