Did you know that more than 2,300 oil rig injuries occur every year? Oilfield workers put in long hours using dangerous equipment in the performance of their jobs. According to oil rig injury statistics, safety violations were found in about seventy-eight percent of the reported accidents, and most could have been prevented.
Most experts say working on an oil rig can be dangerous. Keep reading to learn more about the five oil rig injury statistics that everyone should know.
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Common Oil Rig Injuries
Hundreds of thousands flock to apply for jobs in the oil and gas industries with the lure of high salaries without needing much training or experience. There is immense pressure on employees to increase productivity by putting cautionary practices to the side.
Training on maintaining equipment is more often an afterthought, which leads to accidents from dangerous, faulty equipment.
The most common oil rig injuries occur when something falls on a worker, often from work rigs or collapsing decking. Following directly behind this is when rig workers get caught in equipment that has malfunctioned.
5 Oil Rig Injury Statistics
Due to the pressure that is part of the cost of doing this business, there is much more human error. These errors jeopardize job site safety. A few of the reasons oil field work is risky comes from heavy equipment, heights, dangerous materials, and challenges of traveling to and from sites.
1. Oil Field Fall Hazards
Falls increased 2% annually in the oil and gas industry from 2003 to 2013. While reviewing OSHA data, the CDC identified 63 fatal falls, fifteen percent of all deadly fall incidents during that period.
2. Heavy Equipment Dangers
Dropped equipment become flying dangers when you are working several stories above the ground and can easily cause permanent harm to employees down below. Of oil worker fatalities from 2003 to 2006, 22% were due to falling objects. What’s more, the leading cause of death in onsite fatalities was being struck, caught in equipment, or crushed.
3. Getting To and From Job Sites Risks
Oil rig employees usually work one to two weeks at a time and typically are working 8 to 12-hour shifts that contribute to worker fatigue. Oil and gas companies filed 24 claims in the first six months of 2014 relating to fatal auto accidents.
4. Oilfield Materials Perils
According to the CDC, 7% of fatalities among oil and gas extraction workers from 2003 to 2006 were related to fires. Another 9% were from explosions. 5% of oil field workers died from electrocutions.
5. Oil Rig Injury Statistics on Demographics
Data from the Bureau of Labor show that in 2008, men ages 25-34 accounted for all of the fatal work injuries. 75% were white, non-Hispanic, and 17% were Latino or Hispanic.
Fatal work injuries in the oil and gas extraction industry in 2008 mainly occurred in Louisiana with 13, Oklahoma with 21, and Texas with 41 fatal work injuries.
What’s Next
Industry experts and OSHA continually call on companies in the gas and oil industry to improve health and safety. Without companies being inspected regularly, many suspect that oil rig injury statistics are likely to rise.
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