The role of human error in accidents within oil and gas industry in Bahrain

Through the last few decades, there is an increase in occupational accidents figures in different workplaces around the world. A number of causes contributes to these accidents but one of the main causes of these accidents is human error. Human error is an improper decision or behaviour of any worker in the workplace which leads to a negative impact on the workplace. In other words, it is an act which creates an emergency situation, causes loss of lives, damages property and environment, and hampers the economic activities of any workplace. In the case of Oil and Gas (O&G) industry, human error constitutes as the largest contributor of over 70% of all accidents. As O&G industry deals with a variety of risky chemicals and operations, the costs of these accidents are too high to the employees, workplace, economy and society. Few studies have paid attention to human error issue particularly within O&G industry. Therefore, considering human error related accidents within O&G industry is becoming an important global concern. Thus, the aim of this paper is to highlight the role of human error in accidents within O&G industry. This will be done through an extensive review of literature. Paper will provide a definition on human error in general and in O&G industry and discuss main causes that lead to human error related accidents. Study will consider Bahrain O&G industry as a case study and explore some recommendations that help in reducing the occurrence of human error related accidents.