Work, Health and safety culture/climate : - a study of employees in the Norwegian oil and gas industry

Abstract

Background: The main focus of this thesis concerns the relationship between health, safety, and (work) environment (HSE) within the Norwegian petroleum industry. HSE was measured by the employees’ perception of their health status, the work environment (i.e. the physical and psychosocial) and the work safety climate (e.g. management commitment to safety). This thesis presents three empirical studies concerning the health, safety and (work) environment relationship, and one study concerning the effects of a large-scale safety culture programme. The theoretical basis for the thesis is the research fields of work and occupational health, and of organisational culture/climate areas, i.e. the safety culture/climate literature. Also, the work presented relies on empirical research conducted within the oil and gas industry, both in Norway and internationally. To some extent the areas of risk perception, occupational accidents and hazards were also examined in greater detail relative to theory in existing empirical work and data drawn from the total group of Norwegian oil and gas employees.