Health, safety and the working environment are of paramount importance, especially in the high-risk environments found at facilities in the oil and gas industry, where hazards are inevitable and accidents may lead to regrettable situations such as explosions, oil spills and other disasters. The high number of accidents and disasters at such facilities bring safety-related matters to the fore. The complexity of the communication process is very often underestimated, where failures in communication could lead to major disasters. This paper investigates the role of communication management and the organizational communication climate and their impact on incidents and disaster avoidance. This study embarks on a quantitative approach involving 260 personnel from high-risk workplaces at oil and gas facilities, based on purposive sampling. Hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM to identify causal relationships and for mediation analysis. The findings of this study show that communication management and the organizational communication climate have a significant impact on disaster avoidance. The organizational communication climate is also found to be a significant mediator for the relationship between communication management and disaster avoidance. Communication management and the organizational communication climate need to be enhanced and to be integrated with other technology and innovation to improve safety regulation adherence in the oil and gas industry.

Global palm oil consumption, registering at 77 million metric tons annually, presents a significant ecological challenge. The importance of fostering sustainable production is paramount. Yet, issues of deforestation and other unsustainable practices cast doubt over this objective. Sustainable certification schemes such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) aim to improve sustainable practices among stakeholders, including smallholders. A low achievement rate of only 30% certified smallholders suggests impediments beyond financial constraints. This study investigates the impact of social structure, specifically communication elements like social interaction ties and shared identity, on smallholders’ adoption of sustainable certification—a viewpoint aligned with innovation diffusion theory. Employing a quantitative design and a questionnaire survey, data was collected from 300 independent smallholders and analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings illuminate that communication through social interaction ties and shared identity significantly influences the adoption of sustainable-certified schemes by smallholders. This suggests that innovation diffusion within this sector is socially motivated, emphasizing the influential role of communication in facilitating adoption of sustainable practices among small farmers. This novel understanding offers valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in utilizing social dynamics to endorse sustainable practices within the palm oil industry. Keywords: Sustainable certification, communication, smallholders, innovation diffusion, social structure.