Can we use near-miss reports for accident prevention?:A study in the Oil and Gas industry in Denmark

Abstract

Background: The oil and gas industry in the Danish sector of the North Sea has always focused on reducing work-related accidents. Over the years, accident rates have been reduced, and near-miss reporting has gained in importance, because it allows the industry to learn from experience and prevent further accidents. Because of this importance, oil and gas companies use many resources to register and analyse near misses. The aim of this paper is to investigate near-miss reporting for the Danish offshore installations and to examine what the industry learns from near-miss reporting and how these reports can be used in the prevention of accidents. Data: Data are derived from three oil and gas companies in the Danish sector of the North Sea. The material consists of documentary data such as procedures and reports as well as interviews and a database including near-miss reports. The near misses have been divided into thematic groups, and two types of near misses were chosen for further analysis: gas leaks and person related incidents. Methods: Thematic analyses of documentary material, accident prevention procedures and selected near-miss cases. Results: The preliminary results show that all companies have procedures and systems for accident and near-miss reporting. The paper shows that there are challenges and barriers for the use of near-miss reporting systems with regard to learning and improving the safety of off-shore installations, and suggestions are made for improvements