Fatigue: the most critical accident risk in oil and gas construction

Abstract

Construction work in oil and gas projects is both challenging and hazardous. The occupational hazards are often associated with fatigue and stress, and an accident is one possible outcome. The purpose of the two‐part study was to identify the new and emergent risks within the top 10 ranked risks and to evaluate their contribution to accidents. Three hundred and twenty stakeholders, from four oil and gas construction projects in mainland China participated in the survey questionnaire. Fifteen workers, who have experienced actual fatigue‐related accidents, were also interviewed. All of the stakeholders unanimously ranked fatigue as the most critical risk perceived to cause accidents with emotional disturbance, the emergent risk. This is the first time that fatigue has been identified as the leading accident risk in the construction industry. It was further reported as a trigger risk to a bundle of other synergetic risks. The new discovery confirms the need to consider fatigue as a complex multidimensional phenomenon and the lynchpin to reducing accidents. These findings have created new responses to the problem of accident causation and alternative views to accident mitigation. The discoveries will open new opportunities for future research in the areas of fatigue and stress risk management in construction.

Keywords:

• Accident
• China
• fatigue
• gas construction
• oil construction

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank academics from the University of Sydney: Emeritus Professor John Small, Emeritus Professor John Robinson, Dr Nigel Balaam and the University of Hong Kong: Professor Steve Rowlinson and the reviewers for their constructive comments. Special thanks also to the following key personnel for their support in the research: Jack Brinly, Zhang Zhiliang, Rick Spivey and Aidan Hayes from BP SECCO, Paul Milican from BP LPG, Paul Lo and Greg Willms from Shell Nanhai, Exxon Mobil Fujian, David Marshall, Paul Keeler, Ian Ross, Thomas King and Marty Whether from Guangdong LNG, Ross Gibson and Gerry Baker from Amec Engineering and Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Steve Katzman from Betchel China Inc., Jim Gibson from Foster Wheeler International E and C (Shanghai) Co., James Russo from ABB Lummus Global, David Knights from Saipem (Beijing) Technical Services Co. Ltd, Brian Gillon, Ray Brewster and Jon Kitching from Leighton Contractors (Asia) Ltd, Allan Paton, Tim Hallworth, and Jesse Hau from Gammon Construction (China) Ltd.

Notes

1. The accident not only wreaked havoc on the environment, but also caused extensive damage to the reputation and economic loss to the company. In September 2010, BP announced an expected payout of US$20 billion in compensation to businesses (fishermen, hoteliers and retailers) affected by the oil spill (International Business Times News Online, 2010).

2. Managers refer to expatriate and Chinese safety, construction, and project managers.

3. US$2.8 billion project.

4. US$4.2 billion project.

5. US$3.7 billion project.

6. Two hundred and twenty‐six (78%) respondents said ‘yes’ to fatigue while 64 (22%) said ‘no’ to fatigue. Two hundred and ninety valid responses were recorded for this risk item, fatigue, with 30 missing values.

7. If lift <1, then the occurrence of A (fatigue) is negatively correlated with the occurrence of B (antecedents). This means that the occurrence of fatigue does not imply the occurrence of the antecedents and vice versa. On the other hand, if lift >1 then A and B are positively correlated. This means that the occurrence of fatigue is associated with the occurrence of the antecedents and vice versa.

8. Fatigue is one of the 11 risk items under physical capability in Section III Q2 of Figure 1.

9. Emotional disturbance is one of the eight risk items under mental state in Section III Q4 of Figure 1.

10. Extended hours included overtime, shiftwork and compressed weekends.

11. Emotional overload is one of the eight risk items under mental stress in Section III Q5 of Figure 1.

12. Correlation of emotional overload and inadequate supervisor‐worker communication, r_s = 0.147*.

13. Correlation between inadequate supervisor–worker communication and fatigue, r_s = 0.148*.