Safety Culture and Resilience in a Petrochemical Industry

Abstract

Background: Safety has affected the productivity of many industries, including the nuclear power, oil and gas, and railway industry. Resilience engineering is a new field in safety science. This study investigated the dimensions that contribute to safety culture and resilience and their relevance in petrochemical industry.

Methods:This is a descriptive-analytical study. At first, a questionnaire was used to assess the level of safety culture in twelve dimensions. Then, a six-factor resilience engineering questionnaire was administered. Data were analyzed in SPSS 19 and EXCEL software programs using statistical tests such as the correlation coefficient.

Results:The mean safety culture score was 290(43.2). The lowest score was related to the training indicator and incident and near-miss reports. The mean score of the resilience index was 201.5(25). The lowest score was related to the learning and reporting culture index. There was a significant correlation between the safety culture score and resilience engineering score (P=0.003). The results also showed that the score of safety culture and resilience increased with age and experience.

Conclusion: Safety culture and resilience are correlated directly, implying that individuals and organizations can become more resilient by increasing levels of safety culture.