Strategic Direction for Reducing Fatal Oil and Gas Industry Incidents

Abstract

This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 94416, "Upstream Onshore Oil and Gas Fatalities: A Review of OSHA's Database and Strategic Direction for Reducing Fatal Incidents," by C.K. Curlee, SPE, Marathon Oil Co.; S.J. Broulliard, ConocoPhillips; M.L. Marshall, U.S. Dept. of Labor - Occupational Safety and Health Admin.; T.L. Knode, SPE, Halliburton; and S.L. Smith, Chevron Corp., prepared for the 2005 SPE/EPA/DOE Exploration and Production Environmental Conference, Galveston, Texas, 7-9 March. According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor—Occupational Safety and Health Admin.(OSHA) database for the period 1997 through 2003, one fatality occurred every 10 days in the U.S. upstream oil and gas industry. These data were studied to determine trends and provide insights into the safety failures and to study potential interventions to eliminate the high frequency of fatal incidents. This review provides oil and gas industry operating managers, safety professionals, trade associations, and others a way to improve programs and set priorities for reducing onshore oilfield-related fatalities. Introduction Each year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases a Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) report. These reports indicate that the mining sector, which includes the oil and gas extraction subsector (i.e., all upstream E&P activities), typically experiences one of the highest fatality rates of all major industries. In the BLS report of 2003 data, 34.5 fatalities occurred for every 100,000 workers in the oil and gas extraction subsector, or one fatality every 4.3 days. This fatality rate is more than 8.5 times the average for all U.S. industries. An industry-review team (IRT) was formed, consisting of professionals representing operating companies, drilling and well-servicing companies, and industry trade associations, as well as OSHA. The IRT examined the OSHA fatality information, with emphasis on validating the OSHA database. Once the database information was understood, the IRT determined trends to provide insights into the safety failures associated with E&P-industry fatal incidents.