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Burning the midnight oil: Examining wellbeing and vulnerability in Alberta’s oil patch

2018; Elsevier BV; Volume: 6; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.exis.2018.10.001

2214-7918

Alysia Wright, Yannick Griep,

Employment and Welfare Studies

Oil workers represent more than six percent of Alberta’s labour force and many of these workers are located in remote, isolated oil fields with limited access to social, psychological, and health services. The purpose of this study was to explore the nuanced experience of oil workers located in Alberta, Canada and contributes to the extant body of research on the topic of wellbeing in the petroleum industry. Fourteen workers shared their experiences of social isolation, the affect of job-related stress on their social, emotional and psychological wellbeing, and coping mechanisms for working in such high-risk, high-strain work environments. Based on the findings, we recommend that vulnerability needs to be contextualized for the petroleum industry and further research needs to be conducted about the psychological and physical costs paid by workers in order to maintain careers in the petroleum industry.