Assessing the safety of staffing arrangements for process operations

A method has recently been developed by Entec on behalf of the Hazardous Installations Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive who have observed that a number of oil, gas and chemical sites are taking steps to reduce staffing levels in their operating teams. There is a concern that such reductions could impact the ability of a site to control abnormal and emergency conditions and may also have a negative effect on staff performance through an impact on workload, fatigue, etc. The aim of the project was to develop a structured assessment method which systematically covered all the relevant issues and would prevent potential problems in process operation staffing arrangements being missed. The assessment method provides a systematic approach which structures people's thinking about the factors which need to be considered when assessing the safety of process operation staffing arrangements.