Investigating the role of leadership in safety outcomes within oil and gas organisations

For many countries, the oil and gas industry is regarded as one of the most lucrative and key sources of energy. Tasks in this sector can be classified under five main stages – exploration, oil extraction, refining, transporting and marketing of oil and its byproducts. Such tasks pose substantial risks to the environment, personnel and community at large. When accidents occur in the industry, the likelihood of human fatality is very high. Organisations where safety is highly critical (i.e. high exposure to risk and likelihood of an accident) poses particular challenges for leaders. Thus, such organisations call for specific leadership/leadership behaviours, which may differ from those most effective in less safety-critical organisations. Therefore, this paper examines some key accidents in the oil and gas industry that had huge influence on the development of safety legislation. The paper is centred on the literature review and the selected accidents; based on the following themes – leadership, safety culture, safety outcomes, and safety climate. Discussion on the study carried out was presented, followed by a framework for safety leadership. Finally, this paper concludes that safety-critical organisations require leadership that influences followers to behave safely, acts as a role model and exhibits profound concern for safety.