User:Jayjitsu

Allied Studies Group

McDermott is an Oil Rig Manufacturing company that operates out of Dubai in the Middle East. They are involved in the manufacture and installation of Oil Rig infrastructure and operate a workforce of up to 4000 workers from a variety of backgrounds. This includes India, Philippines, Pakistan and Nepal. The senior management are from the UK, Europe, and America. The multi-cultural dimension of the business offers a complex mix of values and beliefs that are partly responsible for differences in how the workforce perceives risk and communicates risk concerns with the management. The beliefs and values also influence behaviour and the development of norms which can be observed as safety climate and safety culture. Within the organisation is a team of Indian health and safety advisors who operate and manage their own teams of safety officers and field safety assistants. This group of safety practitioners are presently being up skilled through the use of a group competency program. This will tie in with the present training programs that along with group mentoring and development of a leadership program, integrates as an effective way to deal with construction problems in frontier regions. The process includes development of a series of minimum standards and assessment routines developed through the mentoring and leadership program. Achieving standards is through the collection of workplace evidence using evidence portfolios that are assessed and challenged by subject matter experts. Evidence of achievement is also appraised using behavioural interviews that ensure values and goals are personalised and the impact of competency program is evaluated in relation to how it can influence safety behaviours, norms and routines.

McDermott consider the competency program as a cost effective tool and a program that brings about behavioural change and development of a robust safety culture. In depth evaluation focuses specifically on a group of Indian Safety advisors working in the Middle East who help to oversee safety during the building of oil rig technology and sub-sea infrastructure. The evaluation of their influence on safety climate and culture is monitored as part of the research process, that reflects on quantitative data e.g. Near miss reporting, effectiveness of training and behavioural data that are all used as indicators of an improving safety culture. Of interest are leading near miss indicators that are pro-active in nature (i.e. an indicator of behaviour) and other At-Risk reports that come in from a qualitative system called BBSM. The overall focus on improved reporting and communication is the main thrust as is the quality, quantity and frequency of accurate reports. The interest in leading near miss reports carries the most weight as they are indicators of change because they are less to do with physical situations, that have already happened, and more to do with problem identification and problem solving. Therefore the elements of pro-active versus reactive reporting will be measured and the behaviours of change and through the behavioural interviews to be conducted over a period of one year, using six senior safety advisors. The critical evaluation will then probe to the effects of the group competency program for this geographical region in Dubai, Middle East. The transcribed interviews will be coded using thematic analysis to determine how human factors are responsible for any change that takes place, in relation to behavioural norms, safety climate and culture. This research will therefore be of interest to anyone involved in work based competency, risk perception and behavioural change for construction activities operating in new frontier regions.