Oduoza, C F; Alamri, R and Oloke, D (2025) Best practice for safety management: A case of major oil processing country in the middle East. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 32(3), pp. 1857-1874. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: Deployment of health and safety standards in extremely hazardous work environments such as oil and gas sector, is essential to minimise accidents leaving employees permanently or temporarily incapacitated. The purpose of this research, is to understand why there are frequent accidents in case country's oil and gas sector, with a view to recommend solutions to mitigate problems. Design/methodology/approach: Research methodology involved extensive review of the literature to appreciate background, and current research on typical accidents and safety measures taken at oil and gas construction sites to minimise accidents in a middle east country. Interviews, questionnaires and case stidies were deployed to acquire data which highlighted major reasons for accidents occurrence at oil and gas construction sites, and safety tools and techniques that could reduce accident rate if adopted by companies. Findings: Findings, showed that oil and gas construction projects in case country were prone to health and safety related risks, challenges and accidents due to failure to comply with standards and legislation. Construction site teams and shop floor staff were rarely involved in development of safety policies, and some had no understanding of requirements and procedures underpinning safety during operations. Research recommended rapid application/adoption of international standards underpinned by ISO 45000 series and staff training at all levels. Deployment of robots and use of machine learning technology were suggested to implement risky tasks in the sector. Originality/value: Research was based on rampant accidents occurring in hazardous oil and gas sector in country studied. Enforcement of health and safety standards, and use of modern tools and techniques were recommended to minimise accident rate.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; health and safety; oil and gas; policies; risk management |
| Index terms: | safety management, machine learning, questionnaire, construction project, methodology, construction site, health and safety, interview, legislation, Middle East, ISO, oil and gas, enforcement, research methodology, work environment, risk management, best practice, safety measures |
| Subjects: | legal systems, physical geography and landforms, research methods, health safety and environment, production management, standards development, work location, artificial intelligence, risk assessment, data collection methods, research design and methodology, business, occupational health and safety management, industry analysis, management |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Site Management, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Legal Issues, Quality Management, Health and Safety, Project Management, Geographical Context, Risk Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here