Organisational factors, safety attitudes and workload among oshore oil personnel T. Rundmo*, H. Hestad, P. Ulleberg Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7034 Trondheim, Norway Abstract The aim of this article is to show how job stress, physical working conditions, commitment and involvement in safety work, and attitudes towards safety and accident prevention work among employees on oshore petroleum platforms have changed from 1990 to 1994. In 1990 a self-completion questionnaire survey was carried out among personnel on oshore oil installations in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. The sample consisted of eight instal- lations and ®ve companies. A new study was conducted in 1994, consisting of 12 installations and nine companies. The response rate was 92% in 1990 and 87% in 1994. Results published previously have shown that the personnel felt safer in 1994 compared to 1990 (Rundmo, 1996, Safety Science 21, 205±221). The personnel experienced job stress more often in 1990 than in 1994. The percentage of the personnel who experienced physical workload was also greater in 1990 compared to 1994. Likewise, a greater percentage of the respondents were satis®ed with the safety and contingency measures in 1994 compared to 1990. All of these factors seemed to aect risk perception and risk behaviour among the personnel. # 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Oshore oil industry, Organisational factors, Attitudes. 1. Introduction Eorts made to prevent accidents are often accomplished after their occurrence. This strategy will never be very eective in preventing accidents. The individual behaviour which causes an accident is often very speci®c regarding the single inci- dent and, consequently, the circumstances which cause an accident are rarely iden- tical. Hence, to focus on speci®c causal relations which immediately precede certain accidents has a limited value regarding the eectiveness of accident prevention. Unfortunately, many eorts aimed at preventing risk behaviour are of this kind. The causes of occupational accidents are often identi®ed within the working environment of the local industrial company. Job stress and physical workload may SAFETY SCIENCE Safety Science 29 (1998) 75±87 0925-7535/98/$19.00 + 0.00 # 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0925-7535(98)00008-3 * Corresponding author.