The 24/7 nature of oil and gas operations requires well-coordinated shift handover between workers, according to an article from EHS Today. Communication failures not also disrupt production, they have reportedly been identified as a key factor contributing to several major incidents including Piper Alpha, Texas City, Buncefield and Deepwater Horizon.
According to the article, research reveals that “while start-up, shutdown and changeover periods account for less than 5% of an operation’s staff time, 40% of plant incidents occur during this time.” Furthermore, every second incident or accident in the process industry is reportedly related to communication errors that occurred during shift handovers. EHS states that unreliable shift handover communication results from a number of issues such as missing information, unnecessary information, inaccurate information, poor quality of information and misunderstandings.
Read the entire article here.
