Safety Cultures: A Case Study from the Oil and Gas Industry
Program Development
Peer-Reviewed
A Case Study From the Oil & Gas Industry ulture can mean many things to many people. The word can be used to talk about the fine arts or social competence, as in, “She is certainly a cultured person.” It can describe social structures and practices that appear to be uniquely different, as in, “The Maori culture of New Zealand can be very intimidating to outsiders.” SH&E professionals talk about safety cultures, by which they mean the values, norms and practices of an organization that deal with the safety of its people. These definitions share a common thread, the idea that culture is socially constructed. In other words, members of the culture in question create, define, protect and teach it to new members. Humans cannot operate without cultures. These systems provide roadIN BRIEF maps for their members to know how •This case study discusses to make sense of what is happening in how new training videos were their lives and how to deal with it. Patdeveloped for high-risk, blueton (2002) defines culture as: collar workers in the oil and [T]hat collection of behavior patgas extraction industry. terns and beliefs that constitutes: •NIOSH’s Oil and Gas Injury •standards for deciding what is; Reduction project is focused •standards for deciding how on developing culturally one feels about it; relevant and acceptable mate•standards for deciding what to rials for workers. do about it; •Steps for undertaking an •standards for deciding how to occupational ethnography or go about doing it. (p. 81) work culture study are examCulture has been described as “the ined, as are ideas on why work collective programming of the mind stories matter, and who might be the most effective people to which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from star in training videos. another” (Hofstede, 1997, p. 5). Sim•Tips on creating training ply, culture is “the way we do things videos in the field are offered around here.” as well. An
Peer-Reviewed
A Case Study From the Oil & Gas Industry ulture can mean many things to many people. The word can be used to talk about the fine arts or social competence, as in, “She is certainly a cultured person.” It can describe social structures and practices that appear to be uniquely different, as in, “The Maori culture of New Zealand can be very intimidating to outsiders.” SH&E professionals talk about safety cultures, by which they mean the values, norms and practices of an organization that deal with the safety of its people. These definitions share a common thread, the idea that culture is socially constructed. In other words, members of the culture in question create, define, protect and teach it to new members. Humans cannot operate without cultures. These systems provide roadIN BRIEF maps for their members to know how •This case study discusses to make sense of what is happening in how new training videos were their lives and how to deal with it. Patdeveloped for high-risk, blueton (2002) defines culture as: collar workers in the oil and [T]hat collection of behavior patgas extraction industry. terns and beliefs that constitutes: •NIOSH’s Oil and Gas Injury •standards for deciding what is; Reduction project is focused •standards for deciding how on developing culturally one feels about it; relevant and acceptable mate•standards for deciding what to rials for workers. do about it; •Steps for undertaking an •standards for deciding how to occupational ethnography or go about doing it. (p. 81) work culture study are examCulture has been described as “the ined, as are ideas on why work collective programming of the mind stories matter, and who might be the most effective people to which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from star in training videos. another” (Hofstede, 1997, p. 5). Sim•Tips on creating training ply, culture is “the way we do things videos in the field are offered around here.” as well. An
References: Arnould, E.J. & M. Wallendorf. (1994). Marketoriented ethnography: Interpretation building and marketing strategy formulation. Journal of Marketing Research, 31(4), 484-504. Cullen, E.T. (2002). You are my sunshine (NIOSH Publication No. 2002-132d-video). Spokane, WA: Spokane Research Laboratory. Cullen, E.T. (2008, July). Tell me a story: Using stories to improve occupational safety training. Professional Safety, 53(7), 20-27. Cullen, E.T. & Fein, A.H. (2005). Tell me a story: Why stories are essential to effective safety training (NIOSH Publication No. 2005-152). Cincinnati, OH: Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, NIOSH. Haven, K. (2007). Story proof: The science behind the startling power of story. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Hofstede, G. (1997). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill. LeCompte, M.D. & Schensul, J. (1999). Designing and conducting ethnographic research. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. Livo, N.J. & Rietz, S.A. (1986). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. Machles, D., Bonkemeyer, E. & McMichael, J. (2010, Jan.). Community of practice: A workplace safety case study. Professional Safety, 56(1), 46-51. Neuhauser, P.C. (1993). Corporate legends and lore. Austin, TX: PCN Associates. Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Van Maanen, J. & Barley, S.R. (1984). Occupational communities: Culture and control in organizations. In B.M. Shaw & L.L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 6, pp. 287-366). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Because the workers involved in rig moves perform fundamentally different and equally dangerous tasks, the research team decided to make two videos, one for roughnecks (Photo 9) and one for truckers. www.asse.org MARCH 2011 ProfessionalSafety 47