Human Factors - Staffing and Workload

Companies in the oil & gas industry require a workforce capable of undertaking process and technical operations, supplemented by other disciplines such as welfare and catering, necessary to support safe operations and emergency response arrangements.

Effective staffing is all about having the right number of people, in the right place at the right time. It is not just a matter of having enough staff, but also ensuring that they have suitable knowledge, skill and experience to operate safely. Staffing levels are closely related to several other topics, such as workload, organisational change, safety critical task analysis (SCTA), supervision, competence, human-machine interface design and fatigue.

Having clear data on staffing levels is important when considering, or undergoing, organisational change as reduced staffing levels may impact the management of major accident hazards.

Requirements for staffing levels are primarily focused at ensuring there are sufficient numbers of trained personnel to deal with emergency situations. However, it is also vital to ensure there are enough personnel to safely operate, maintain and support safe operations.

To comply with regulatory requirements, manning levels at major hazard sites should be determined at design phase and relate to the nature of operations and type of process equipment in use. Specific in-depth analysis should be carried out for Central Control Rooms (CCR) and other critical areas.

A manning assessment may help to identify the personnel requirements for emergencies and safety-critical work scopes to ensure sufficient numbers of personnel are available to allow continued safe operation of the asset. Manning assessments should also consider different operational modes, i.e. shutdown, as well as welfare requirements.

As an example, manning levels for an offshore installation should include (but are not limited to):

• Management of the installation
• Supervision
• Emergency response team members
• Responsible Electrical Person
• Medic and First Aider
• Disciplines for conducting safety critical tasks
• Welfare (i.e. catering crew)
• Safety Reps
• Disciplines for effect conduct of control of work.
• Safety critical maintenance

Identifying the right levels of staffing for operations, and any necessary contingencies, ensures sufficient numbers of key personnel are suitably trained and competent.

Any changes to the staffing levels should be risk assessed and provide clear mitigations for any reduction. Variations can arise from changes to work activity, down manning, holidays, sickness, attending training courses, people leaving and new people who may not have attained the requisite competence levels to fulfil their role.

Some indicators that staffing levels may be impacted are work overload (i.e. increased error rates), high levels of fatigue (swing shifts and additional hours logged) and employees being required to cover other positions.