Wyoming’s decades-long oil and gas boom has drawn thousands of people to the state for high-paying — but dangerous — jobs.
It was the alarmingly high rate of fatal on-the-job accidents that prompted former Governor Dave Freudenthal to put together the Workplace Safety Task Force consisting of members from the major industries in Wyoming as well as several state agencies. The task force hired Dr. Timothy Ryan, an occupation epidemiologist, to look into the problem and provide possible solutions.
In analyzing 17 years of occupation fatality data (1992-2008), Dr. Ryan found that:
The common theme throughout is the lack of a “culture of safety” in Wyoming. The following is a summation of what the employees described as their typical work environment:
- There is a breakdown in communication between the upper management, supervisors, and employees regarding safety.
- “Often the safety training that we receive is not enforced on the work site.
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- Employees are told to “get the job done” and safety protocol and rules are not enforced, resulting in injuries and fatalities.
- On any one job site, there can be a wide range in the safety standards.
In what can only be termed “shocking,” the report claims that based on the total number of fatalities, Wyoming averaged a fatality “every 10 days of the last 10 years.”
As the statistics indicate, the state of Wyoming is in dire need of solution to this problem. Dr. Ryan suggested the following:
- Organize and develop continuity of ongoing efforts.
- Develop data monitoring system for the collection and timely analysis of occupational data.
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- Promote OSHA courtesy inspections.
- Support efforts by industry to develop, monitor and enforce safety standards and practices.
The implementation of these suggestions will hopefully take Wyoming off the list of “most dangerous states to work.”
Emily-
Working on oil & gas rigs has always been dangerous work. Workers are utilizing heavy and motorized equipment, that requires the worker be in close proximity with moving parts that can easily maim and kill. When you add water, industrial fluids, fatigue and inexperience to the process, it ups the exposure to loss quite a bit.
Oil is trading at roughly $100 per barrell today, and it has been higher. There will be a demand for all forms of energy in our future, regardless of the price. Right now, meeting the demand for oil and gas requires young and strong employees that will be tasked with performing dangerous work at the drill site. Even with the high rate of unemployment, roughneck jobs remain available around the world. If you stay in the industry long enough you will see, if not experience first-hand, a serious injury.
The oil and gas industry, changes lives for the better, and sometimes for worse. It provides jobs and increases trade and revenues within the affected communities where drilling occurs. The affected members of society, will tolerate the cost, as long as it is profitable to do so.
Charles Gillenwater
Risk Manager-City of Mesquite, TX
Thanks for the blog article. Much thanks again. Will read on…