Warning. Danger. Caution: over-regulation leads to unsafe work environments

Abstract

The oil and gas industry is no stranger to explosions, fatalities and other catastrophic incidents. If, however, these dangers are outside of the normal routine, what is the value of countless occupational health and safety rules, regulations, and a bureaucracy to manage them?

The over-regulation of workplace safety threatens to replace intelligent judgment with rigid policies and procedures. The industry needs to examine which strategies ultimately lead to the best safety outcomes. The personal responsibility of individual employees is critical to genuine engagement in the day-to-day management of workplace safety. Over-regulation can also drive up costs for contractors who are forced to comply with the same inflexible standards and rules. Historically, tensions between employers, employees, and contractors have hindered rather than helped workplace safety.

In the future, employers and management should strive to share the burden of workplace safety through meaningful conversation with the people on the ground floor. The industry should not rely on a new hazard sign, safety briefing, start-up check, emergency switch, hand guard, policy document, or a human resources buzzword. The best safety systems rely on common sense. Beware—the machine has no brain, use your own. The question is, does the regulatory framework allow this to occur?