Offshore oil and gas occupational accidents—What is important?

Occupational accidents continue to present a problem to industry in general and the offshore oil and gas business in particular. To address this concern, a quantitative model capable of predicting occupational accident frequency in the offshore petroleum industry is being developed. The model offers a means to optimise safety spending, thereby maximising benefits to personnel and the organisation. As input to the development of the model, industry safety experts were polled with respect to the relative importance of a series of influencing factors. These included elements directly affecting accidents, organisational issues, and external factors. A questionnaire was the chosen method to consolidate industry opinion. The results of the questionnaire are presented here, together with a discussion, interpretation, and conclusions.