Evaluating Key Performance Indicators of Occupational Health and Safety Among Upstream Oil and Gas Workers in Nigeria

Abstract

This research paper evaluates the key performance indicators (KPIs) of occupational health and safety (OHS) for workers in the upstream oil and gas sector in Nigeria, with a special focus on incorporating workers' perceptions in the analysis of safety performance. A cross-sectional survey of 250 respondents across eight thematic areas, safety culture, emergency preparedness, environmental compliance, hazard mitigation, training, psychological safety, and health systems, revealed performance variation. Yet, the results show a higher overall performance. Occupational Health, Safety, Training and Competency domains were the best-rated domains (mean = 3.17), and the standardized responses were above 50% with adequate to strong internal reliability (56% and 50%) (3.17) respectively (50% certifications processes and 56% availability of personal protective equipment), bolstered by strong internal reliabilities (0.86 and 0.88). The Emergency Response Planning (mean = 3.14; 0.91) indicated clarity of roles and communication preparedness, but post-incident evaluation revealed weaknesses. There was policy visibility with poor active engagement in leadership commitment (mean = 3.09; 0.78). Out of the above, regression analysis showed that Training (0.38), Emergency Planning (0.31), Leadership (0.26), and Psychological Safety (0.20) explained a significant portion of the variations related to overall OHS perception (R² = 0.71). Three latent dimensions, namely Safety Infrastructure, Leadership & Policy, and Psychosocial Climate, were found with a high level of variance (81.2%). It was found that OHS effectiveness does not entirely depend on the infrastructure but rather on leadership behaviour, organisational culture, and psychological trust.