Building psychosocial and physical resilience using self-management skills for offshore workers

Project Description:

This Research Project is part of the EPSRC CDT in Offshore Wind Energy Sustainability and Resilience’s the wellbeing triad: improving the physical, psychosocial, and cognitive health of workers in the offshore windfarm sector Cluster.

The offshore wind industry has expanded rapidly and as a large influx of offshore workers is expected to meet the growth of the industry, companies now have an important task of maintaining health and safety at work in order to sustain well-being and retain the workforce until statutory pension. However, work in the offshore wind industry involves both cognitive and manual work.

Evidence suggests that high work demands that exceed the physical and cognitive capacity of workers and their physical work demands may reflect as poor work ability and compromised health and safety at the workplace. Particularly work stress, fatigue, difficulties detaching from work, sleeping problems, musculoskeletal have been documented.

Using organisational support theory and self-management theory, this project will examine how health, wellbeing and productivity can be improved and sustained for those at risk of poor health and wellbeing.

The student will work directly with offshore workers, as well as stakeholders such as human resources personnel, safety managers and occupational health staff, in order to design, test and pilot intervention content, based around necessary adaptations to fit the offshore work environment and context.

Training & Skills

You will receive the following training as part of the PhD project: Intervention design, physiological measurement and health tool use and analyses training, questionnaire and interview design and analyses. The PhD could lead to careers in academia as well as in public or private sectors (in human resources or health and wellbeing teams), or in consultancy firms specialising in work, health and wellbeing.

You will benefit from a taught programme, giving you a broad understanding of the breadth and depth of current and emerging offshore wind sector needs. This begins with an intensive six-month programme at the University of Hull for the new student intake, drawing on the expertise and facilities of all four academic partners. It is supplemented by Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which is embedded throughout your 4-year research scholarship.

Further Queries

If you would like more information about this project, please let us know by emailing auracdt@hull.ac.uk.