Step Change in Safety, a UK partnership committed to offshore safety achievement, has published an interesting human factors report. The report, which was brought to my attention by Melinda Mayes, includes 12 one-page case studies of offshore incidents with commentary on how human factors played a role.
I suspect that many of you can relate to “Case Study 3,” which begins as follow:
After going through a difficult downsizing a company decided to restrict recruitment and personnel moves, in an attempt to avoid painful redundancies in the future.
At the time there was great demand for personnel in the oil and gas market. One installation lost a number of its operational leadership to another company. For a while the installation managed. It was able to maintain its minimum manning levels, and less experienced personnel were asked to step-up into leadership positions. The Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) and offshore engineer began micro-managing work on the installation.
After reading the report, you may want to take a look at the comments posted at the Step Change site. These comments illustrate another human factor – differences in opinion!
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
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