Effects of trust in high-risk organizations during technological changes

The aim of this study was to explore a drilling crew’s acceptance of and safety concerns about implementation of a new automated drilling technology at a Norwegian offshore oil- and gas-producing installation. In this study, 23 interviews were conducted with personnel on a single offshore oil and gas installation who were all involved with the implementation process or the application of the technology itself. Observations of the drilling crew’s operation on the installation were also made. For data analyses, grounded theory was used. The conclusions were that the change process was successful in the sense that the operators accepted the new technology. However, it could be questioned whether the operators had too much trust in the safety aspects of the change process. High trust was found to cause a low-risk perception and a non-questioning attitude, which is not in accordance with the theory of a high reliability organization which the petroleum industry is expected to practice.

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