A Texas A&M study led by Dr. Stephanie C. Payne and Stefan Dumlao from the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, in collaboration with Dr. Farzan Sasangohar and John Kang from Industrial and Systems Engineering and Dr. Ranjana K. Mehta, former Director of the NeuroErgonomics Laboratory, offers new insight into how offshore workers perceive safety.
Published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, the research tracked 70 offshore oil and gas workers over 28 days, collecting more than 1,600 daily safety climate observations. Results showed that safety perceptions remained steady day to day but began to lose predictive power after about three weeks — a phenomenon known as “climate inertia.” The team recommends more frequent, monthly assessments to better capture real-time risk conditions.
This interdisciplinary project, supported by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, highlights how psychology and human factors research can enhance safety in high-risk industries.
To read the full article, visit the College of Arts & Sciences news page!