Are Cognitive and organizational human factors missing from the blunt end in the oil and gas industry?

The area of Human factors (HF) has been in focus to increase safety and quality of operation in the industry. HF covers three main domains, physical ergonomics, cognitive factors and organizational factors. HF has often been identified as root causes in accidents, i.e. 40-90% in different industries. The International Association of Oil & Gas producers (OGP) prioritized "more attention paid to HF" as one of four issues after the Macondo disaster in 2010. However in several projects, HF focus on cognitive factors and organizational factors is missing in the blunt end (i.e. early phase). HF is conceptualized as physical ergonomics (work environment and layout). In addition layout is often based on prior experiences and not on new was of operations. There is poor systematic HF education; few HF experts in user organizations and limited HF research to improve safety. We propose that HF must focus on cognitive factors and organizational factors early from the blunt end. The organizations should have local HF competence. External validation and verification from certified HF experts should be performed early. A simple set of HF guidelines and standards should be used to ensure HF focus, in addition to continued regulatory focus and review.