Psychological Innovation to Improve Oil Rig Safety

When you think about applying findings in science to improve productivity or safety in business, your first thought, if you’re anything like me, is to think about technological innovation — new software or machines that enable work to be done more efficiently or safely.  But there’s definitely room for improvement by applying psychology, as well.  Here’s a fascinating article by Jess Levins about how removing typical “macho” behaviors led to improvements on two offshore oil rigs.

The two oil rigs visited were in the Gulf of Mexico. As of the mid-1990s, the companies that owned them had a distressingly high rate of worker injury. So the companies built new rigs and went out of their way to do daily business differently, as a way to reduce worker injuries. That production, efficiency, and reliability increased as a result of this change was anticipated, but was not the main reason that the companies changed their ways of doing business.
Quotes from rig workers: it used to be that the “guy that was in charge was the one who could…out-intimidate the others…intimidation was the name of the game.” “They decided who the driller was by fighting. If the job came open, the one that was left standing was the driller.” But after the change in doing business: “we had to be taught how to be more lovey-dovey and more friendly with each other and to get in touch with the more tender side of each toher type of thing. And all of us just laughed at first. It was like, man, this is never going to work, you know? But now you can really tell the difference. Even though we kid around and joke around with each other, there’s no malice in it. We are…kinder, gentler.”

The authors pointed out that: “importantly, these men did not repudiate traditionally masculine traits but they did not seem focused on proving them.” [italics in the original].
“Everyone–workers, managers, contractors–attributed this break from the past to the company-wide initiative to make safety its highest priority: ‘macho’ behavior was unsafe and therefore simply unacceptable.”
The authors point out that the ethos of individualism, which in the case of oil rigs is a kind of machismo taken to extremes) has been replaced by collectivism. “These men indicated that they were as committed to giving protection as they were grateful to receive it. ‘It’s for the safety of us out here,’ one explained, ‘and I appreciate that.’”

Do read the whole article, which is pretty fascinating.  And if you have access to the articles on Science Direct, the original published research the article is based on can be found here.  Reading it reminded me of some of primatologist Frans de Waal’s research into aggression, dominance and behavioral differences between chimpanzees and bonobos.
Prior to the organizational changes on these rigs, the culture was, as Levins describes, based on “demonstrations of physical prowess, the idealization of strength, bravado in the presence of danger, the projection of the image of sexual potency, assuming the guise of being technically infallible.”  This is somewhat reminscient of de Waal’s description of Chimpanzees as being much more dominant-male oriented, with violence and complicated politics.  However, after the changes, the culture was much more reminiscent of the empathetic, group-oriented ethos of Bonobos.
Obviously, this isn’t a perfect parallel, but it came to my mind.  I find studies of wild primate behavior fascinating and its interesting to see the parallels in our own behavior, even as we’re involved in complex, technically precise, and dangerous work.