By Tim Monroe
October 12, 2011 – CASPER — The annual Safety Summit hosted by the Wyoming Oil and Gas Industry Safety Alliance (WOGISA) took place in Casper today. Nearly 300 oil and gas industry employees and those from allied organizations met to review progress toward reducing oilfield-related deaths and injuries.
The alliance is an outgrowth of several actions initiated by former Gov. Dave Freudenthal and adopted by Gov. Matt Mead after oilfield deaths and injuries skyrocketed as a result of increased drilling activities in western Wyoming’s oil and gas fields and the coal bed natural gas areas of the Powder River Basin.
The frequency of accidents has landed Wyoming in the top two states in workplace fatalities, according to Dr. Tim Ryan, the Wyoming state occupational epidemiologist. He said in a five-week period in August and September of this year, there were nine oilfield fatalities in Wyoming.
Ryan said there appears to be a correlation between the number of workers in the oil and gas industry and injuries and deaths. He said that between 2008 and 2009, the state lost 16,000 jobs. The losses were primarily in oil and gas, mining and construction.
During that same period, there was a significant drop in fatalities. As employment in the industry picked up in 2010, there were 34 oil and gas deaths. And, from 2001-08, the state saw 62 fatalities in the oil and gas industry (some 20 percent of the total workplace deaths statewide). Drilling rig accidents accounted for more than half the deaths. Transportation, including driving to and from the worksite, accounted for 25 deaths.
On drilling rigs, according to Ryan, more than half the fatalities resulted from being hit or crushed by a moving object. Another 20 percent came as a result of being entangled in cables or other parts of the rig, and 16 percent was the result of falls. In the transportation sector, driver fatigue (falling asleep at the wheel) accounted for 72 percent of the fatalities. Another 12 percent was caused by reckless driving; 8 percent by the driver being distracted; weather and mechanical problems accounted for about 8 percent.
Ryan said fatigue caused the accident, but not the fatality. He said 72 percent of the deaths resulted from seat belts not being used in the vehicle.
Almost all of the company representatives at the summit said their companies have seat belt usage policies. Ryan said many of the fatalities occurred because employees did not follow existing safety protocols.
New state rules for workplace safety will be published soon, according to J.D. Danni, program manager for the Wyoming Occupational Safety and Health office. He said public comment on the proposed rule changes will take place beginning Oct. 16. The state OSHA Commission will meet in Casper on Dec. 2. The rules cover only oil and gas drilling rig operations, not workover or uranium drilling operations.
Danni said the rules don’t mean anything if the company isn’t enforcing the rules and the employees are not following the rules and company policies.
The afternoon session today featured breakout sessions on defensive driving, leadership development and trenching and shoring.
Article: http://www.wyomingbusinessreport.com/article.asp?id=60293
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