Examining the role of occupational health management in the safety and well-being of the offshore worker

Previous research in the offshore environment indicates a positive relationship between good health management practices and safety performance (Mearns, Whitaker & Flin¹). The current research seeks to examine the nature of this relationship and explore whether investment in occupational health, can lead to improvements in organizational climate and, in particular improvements, in safety climate and safety behaviour. The research was conducted by means of a questionnaire survey incorporating 31 offshore oil and gas installations on the UK Continental Shelf. To investigate the hypothesis that investment in health builds worker loyalty in areas such as safety behaviour, 1,928 offshore employees were surveyed using measures of health and safety climate, employers' commitment to health, colleague social support, safety behaviour and employees' commitment to the organization. Additional data was collected in relation to health surveillance and use of PPE for occupational hazards such as chemical and vibration exposure. Respondents were also required to indicate personal health behaviour in terms of diet, exercise and smoking activity. In addition to data on the frequency of sickbay visits for injuries and medical purposes, installation medics provided details of additional health checks offered and health promotion activities. Details of occupational health training undertaken (and offered) to both medics and the workforce in areas such as stress, manual handling, skin problems and HAVs were also collated. Preliminary results indicate that investment in occupational health offshore fosters greater organizational commitment, more positive health and safety climates, improved safety behaviour and more positive perceptions of employers' commitment to the workforce.