Digging deeper into oil and gas industry workplace fatalities

A few days before the New Year rang in, National Public Radio came out with an interesting report on how workplace deaths have increased with the hiring spree in the oil patch to keep up with the boom in unconventional oil and gas drilling.

In fact, right in the third paragraph, we see that 138 workers were killed on the job while extracting, producing or supporting oil and gas in 2012, the most recent year that data is available, according to reports from the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The number was more than double that of 2009.

The 138 fatalities in the oil patch during 2012 was actually the highest number in 10 years, up from 112 in 211 and 107 in 2010, BLS figures show.

The majority of the 2012 fatalities (74) came from oil and gas support activities, while 39 occurred while drilling wells and 25 during oil and gas extraction.

What NPR didn’t immediately say, although it does mention it later on, was that 2009 was the trough year for oil patch deaths at work (68) between 2003-2012 because there were fewer employees–by about 6.6%, stemming from the economic recession.

Nor did NPR say that of all the broad sectors surveyed, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting had the highest rate of fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2012: 21.2, versus 15.6 for the oil and gas industry, a figure that also includes mining activities.  Transportation and warehousing was third at 13.3, and construction was fourth at 9.5.

Let’s dig down a little further into the numbers.  But first, I want to be clear that in no way is this analysis meant to excuse work fatalities of any kind; the material is only to show that statistics can be misleading if not thoroughly investigated and reported.

Of the 74 fatalities from oil and gas support activities, 44 were transportation-related, occurring on roads, railways, waterways, airplanes, or being struck by a vehicle.  Another 11 deaths were from fires or explosions, while five more were from what the BLS calls “falls, slips or trips.”  Ten fatalities resulted from contact with objects and equipment, and three from exposure to harmful substances and environments.

(These and other numbers listed below fall a bit shy of 100%; BLS economist Steve Pegula told Platts that some deaths stem from rare accident types, such as over-exertion, or cannot be listed for confidentality reasons, to prevent a specific incident that has not appeared in publicly available sources from being identified.)

Of the 39 fatalities related to drilling wells, 10 were from transportation incidents, eight from falls, six from fires or explosions, 10 from contact with objects and equipment and three from harmful exposures.

And of the 25 oil and gas extraction deaths, eight came from transportation incidents, six from fires/explosions, five from falls and four from contact with objects and equipment.

Realistically, transportation-related fatalities can occur at any time, anywhere, and so may not be necessarily result from any inherent danger in oil and gas activities.  Yet these accounted for roughly 45% of 2012 oil-patch deaths (62).

Falls and slips can also happen on any work site and are not necessarily only oil and gas-related perils.  That’s another 13% or 18 incidents, more or less.  So about 58% of fatalities (80) in 2012 in the oil patch stemmed from incidents that aren’t directly connected to unique hazards of oil and gas activities.

That leaves the remaining fatalities from fires (23), exposure to harmful substances (6) and contact with objects and equipment (24) which constitute what may be termed the true hazards of the oil patch, and accounted for 53 deaths.  This is the number that needs to be analyzed over time to see if oil and gas work has become more dangerous in recent years.

Fifty-three people, while leaving behind families, friends and productive lives that were cruelly cut short, constituted 1.2% of of a total 4,383 fatal work injuries in the US during 2012.

Other sectors are much higher: the construction industry’s 775 fatalities accounted for 12-18% of total deaths, depending on adjustments made for workers contracted to another industry when the fatality occurred; transportation/warehousing had 15% or 677 deaths; agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting activities caused 11% of all deaths (475); and government–yes, the government–accounted for 10-13% (438 deaths).  Those are fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations, regardless of industry, BLS’ 2012 report said.

Meanwhile, pipeline and refining accidents are listed in different categories altogether: in 2012, there were 19 deaths from oil and gas pipeline construction activities, 14 of them transportation-related, and seven fatalities connected to petroleum refineries, of which four involved transportation activities.  BLS classifies these under the construction and manufacturing categories, respectively.

Mark Twain called facts “stubborn things,” but added: “statistics are pliable.”  Fatalities in the oil patch are a somber but real fact of life, but it is also necessary to separate fact and hype.

The statistics don’t provide further details of the fatalities, so it’s not clear whether all the oil and gas fatalities in any given year mean that the oil patch is truly becoming more hazardous, or whether it is simply a function of more people working at producing, extracting or supporting oil and gas activities.   After all, as the number of people involved in any endeavor grows, the potential for injury and death do increase, whether it’s trucking, construction, fishing or delivering pizzas.

To be sure, more dangerous oil and gas work has become automated in recent years, and oil companies take pains in public forums and documents to release their safety rates which appear to be dropping.

In any case, our hearts and deep gratitude goes out to the 138 workers who died performing oil and gas-related work in 2012, and in all the years before.

platts