To address human factors, industry must improve implementation

The oil and gas industry is now devoting significantly more time and energy to accounting for human factors when writing procedures and creating new training programs. However, human factors is not new to the industry. Groups like the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) have been looking into human factors for 20 years, Chris Hawkes, Safety Director for IOGP, said during a panel session at the 2017 IADC Human Factors Conference in Galveston, Texas. Events like Macondo have brought this discipline into even sharper focus, he added. In this video from the conference on 17 October, Mr Hawkes explains why the industry needs to better account for how human performance is impacted by the need for social survival. He also discusses how the industry, which is excellent at developing recommendations and guidance, can be better at implementation.