Nearest management is important for health and safety. A longitudinal study of perceived working conditions in offshore and onshore petroleum industry

Abstract

Objectives: There are few studies of working environment in the petroleum industry available and even fewer comparing onshore and offshore workers. The aim of this study was to investigate differences between the self-reported working conditions of offshore and onshore employees in a petroleum company in Norway. Method: We analyzed data from surveys carried out in a large petroleum company concerning working and organizational conditions in 2003, 2004 and 2005 describing the number of employees, departments, gender and age groups. We used univariate test and t-test to test differences between offshore and onshore departments, aggregated to department level and adjusted for age and gender. Results: Offshore and onshore departments differed significantly on many items in the survey, especially in the perception of the nearest manager and finding electronic information. Onshore workers were generally more satisfied with all organizational and working environment factors. Conclusions: Differences in management organization and type of shift work might explain the differences between onshore and offshore workers. Nearest management is important for employees' perception of working environment factors in the offshore and onshore petroleum industry.