Staying in the Zone: The cognitive components associated with offshore drillers' situation awareness

Ruby Clyde Roberts, Rhona Hunter Flin, Jen Cleland

Research output: Contribution to conferenceUnpublished paperpeer-review

Abstract

Situation Awareness (SA) issues are often identified as contributing factors to drilling incidents, most recently in the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Two studies aimed to identify the cognitive components required for offshore drillers to develop and maintain SA whilst controlling subsea hydrocarbon wells. In study one, critical incident interviews were conducted with 18 experienced drilling personnel. Transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis, producing a framework of cognitive processes that enable drillers to build up an understanding of what is happening in the well bore and surrounding environment, predicting how the situation may develop. In the second study, analysis of 24 hours of observations (in-vivo and video) from a high fidelity well control simulator suggest behaviors such as monitoring and crew sharing information contribute to the drillers’ SA. The findings highlight the importance of SA for safe and effective performance in drilling and are being used to develop a cognitive task analysis.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2014
EventHuman Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Conference - Chicago, United States
Duration: 28 Oct 201431 Oct 2014

Conference

ConferenceHuman Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Conference
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityChicago
Period28/10/1431/10/14

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Staying in the Zone: The cognitive components associated with offshore drillers' situation awareness'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this