Register      Login
Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Critical incidents: what the psychologist sees

Zara Hart A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Working Life, Perth, WA, Australia.




Zara Hart is a registered psychologist with a master’s degree in Organisational Psychology, together with additional qualifications in Occupational Safety and Health and Workplace Training. Over the past 20 years she has held consulting and advisory roles in the oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, construction, and government sector industries. Her conference speaking credits include IOSH, London (2006), APPEA, Perth (2008) American Society of Safety Engineers, Orlando (2009) and Society of Petroleum Engineers, Bangkok (2009). More recently, she presented at Drillsafe, Perth (2023). Zara is inspired by positive psychology and holds a genuine belief that flourishing employees are the heart of successful organisations. She is happiest when collaborating with clients to improve safety, psychosocial health, and wellbeing at work.

* Correspondence to: zara@working-life.net

Australian Energy Producers Journal 64 S491-S494 https://doi.org/10.1071/EP23045
Accepted: 12 March 2024  Published: 16 May 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of Australian Energy Producers.

Abstract

In the life span of a critical incident, every decision counts. The opportunity to prevent the event has passed, so the avoidance and mitigation of risk becomes the primary goal. The same is true of early intervention in trauma. This paper shares the experience of these events from the perspective of a visiting psychologist. It will include tips for Emergency Management Teams (EMTs) in setting the psychologist up for effective interventions. Also, a triage model that can be used to mitigate psychological harm and channel the most impacted crew members towards help is discussed. It will also suggest ways that operators can collaborate with Employee Assistance Providers to ensure that impacted crew members receive trauma informed care post crisis.

Keywords: critical incident, emergency response teams, employee assistance providers, psychologist, stress, trauma, trauma informed care, triage.

Biographies

EP23045_B1.gif

Zara Hart is a registered psychologist with a master’s degree in Organisational Psychology, together with additional qualifications in Occupational Safety and Health and Workplace Training. Over the past 20 years she has held consulting and advisory roles in the oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, construction, and government sector industries. Her conference speaking credits include IOSH, London (2006), APPEA, Perth (2008) American Society of Safety Engineers, Orlando (2009) and Society of Petroleum Engineers, Bangkok (2009). More recently, she presented at Drillsafe, Perth (2023). Zara is inspired by positive psychology and holds a genuine belief that flourishing employees are the heart of successful organisations. She is happiest when collaborating with clients to improve safety, psychosocial health, and wellbeing at work.

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013) ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’, 5th edn. (American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.)

Bazyar J, Farrokhi M, Khankeh H (2019) Triage Systems in Mass Casualty Incidents and Disasters: A Review Study with A Worldwide Approach. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences 7(3), 482-94.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US) (2014) ‘Trauma Informed Care in Behavioural Health Services.’ (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Rockville, MD) Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207201/

Mao X, Fung OWM, Hu X, Loke AY, A (2018) Psychological impacts of disaster on rescue workers: A review of the literature. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 27, 602-617 ISSN 2212-4209.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

NOPSEMA (2023) Notification and Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences. Document No N-03300-GN0099 A160607. Available at https://www.nopsema.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Notification%20and%20Reporting%20of%20Accidents%20and%20Dangerous%20Occurrences%20%28A160607%29_0.pdf

Roberts AR (1991) Conceptualising crisis theory and the crisis intervention model. In ‘Contemporary Perspectives on Crisis Intervention and Prevention’. (Ed. AR Roberts) pp. 3–17. (Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ)

Rothschild B (1999) Making Trauma Therapy Safe. Self & Society 27, 17-23.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |