Workplace safety investigated by Aberdeen scientist
Industrial psychologists at the University of Aberdeen have been awarded £38,000 for a new research project into the role of managerial leadership in workplace safety.
The contract, which is co-funded by the Health and Safety Executive and the oil industry’s Step Change in Safety programme, aims to establish a better understanding of the leadership factors which impact on organisational safety.
The nine-month project will involve a literature review of the management factors that affect safety outcomes such as unsafe behaviours or accidents. Particular emphasis will be placed on issues such as corporate governance of safety, site management attitudes and behaviours, trust relationships between management and employees and employee safety behaviours.
In addition, a survey is being conducted of Offshore Installation Managers on UKCS. The survey will compare the safety attitudes and opinions of OIMs on the state of offshore safety today to those described in a previous survey conducted in 1998.
Project Manager Angela O’Dea, of the University’s Department of Psychology, said: “Although managers are recognised to be highly influential in creating the right environment for safety, more research is needed to discover the behavioural characteristics associated with the most successful managers.”
Mike Milliner, chairman of the OIM Network, said: “The OIM Network has been a key part of sharing and communicating good practice within Step Change in Safety. A survey of OIMs’ views on what is important for improving safety at the worksite will help identify the priority areas and direct future focus of industry activity.”
Further information is available from Angela O’Dea on 01224 273214.
Issued by Public Relations Office, External Relations, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen. Tel: 01224 272014 Fax: 01224 272086
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.