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Safety Hazards Associated with Oil and Gas

Unique identifier / Notation TL0034 Synonyms Not identified.

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Oil and gas extraction, and associated servicing activities involve many types of equipment and
materials. Identifying and controlling hazards is critical to preventing injuries and deaths (US
Department of Labor, no date).

Alternative definition: For the purpose of the C155 - Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981
(No. 155) (ILO, 1981):
a) the term branches of economic activity covers all branches in which workers are employed,
including the public service.

b) the term workers covers all employed persons, including public employees.
c) the term workplace covers all places where workers need to be or to go by reason of their work and
which are under the direct or indirect control of the employer.
d) the term regulations covers all provisions given force of law by the competent authority or
authorities.

e) the term health, in relation to work, indicates not merely the absence of disease or infirmity; it also
includes the physical and mental elements affecting health which are directly related to safety and
hygiene at work.

Primary reference(s)
ILO, 1981.UNDRR
C155 -uses cookies to
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Convention on International
(No. 155). our website. Labour
Organisation (ILO) (https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?
Got it!
p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C155). Accessed 8 November 2020.

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US Department of Labor, no date. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Oil and Gas
Extraction: Safety hazards associated with oil and gas extraction activities
(https://www.osha.gov/oil-and-gas-extraction). Accessed 8 November 2020.

Additional scientific description

The oil and gas industry will retain an important role as affordable, reliable and versatile energy
products for a growing global population. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2019, oil
and gas combined, accounted for more than 50% of global energy demand and it is expected in the
long term that energy demand will still grow by 25% by 2040. The challenge is to address climate
change through emission reduction while also meeting global energy demand and supporting
economic development in the long term (IAEA, 2019).

Oil and gas extraction activities include exploration, drilling, production, construction, transport and
catering to refineries, which they also help to plan, build, equip and maintain, and delivery of energy
products (ILO, 2010).

Oil and gas extraction activities have the potential to cause damage to or destruction of property and
the environment and could even lead to injury and loss of life, particularly if the activity is not
controlled, monitored, or regulated appropriately (Rodhi et al., 2018). Safety hazards associated with
oil and gas extraction activities include but are not limited to (US Department of Labor, no date):

Vehicle collision: workers and equipment are required to be transported to and from sites, which
are often located in remote areas. Highway vehicle crashes are the leading cause of oil and gas
extraction worker fatalities. In the United States, roughly four out of every ten workers on the job in
this industry are killed as a result of a highway vehicle incident.
Struck-by/ caught-in/caught-between: workers might be exposed to struck-by/caught-in/caught-
between hazards from multiple sources such as moving vehicles or equipment, falling equipment,
and high pressure lines. In the United States, this hazard is responsible for three in five on-site
fatalities in the oil and gas industry.
Explosions and fires: flammable gases such as well gases, vapours, and hydrogen sulphide, can be
released from wells, trucks, production equipment or surface equipment. Ignition sources can
include static, electrical energy sources, open flames, lightning, cutting and welding tools, hot
surfaces, and frictional heat. Workers in the oil and gas industry face these risks, particularly the
risk of fire and explosion due to ignition of flammable vapours or gases.
Falls: can be a direct result of workers being required to access platforms located high above
ground.
Confined spaces: workers are often required to enter confined spaces such as petroleum and
storage tanks, mud pits, reserve pits and other excavated areas. Safety hazards associated with
UNDRR
confined spaceuses cookies
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ignition you get vapours
of flammable the bestor
experience on our
gases. Health website.
hazards include
asphyxiation and exposure to harmful chemicals. Confined spaces that contain or have the
potential to contain a serious atmospheric hazard must be classified as permit-required confined
spaces, tested prior to entry, and continuously monitored.
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Ergonomic hazards: oil and gas workers might be exposed to ergonomics-related injury risks such
as lifting heavy items, bending, reaching overhead, pushing and pulling heavy workloads and
performing the same tasks repetitively. Risk factors can be minimised or eliminated through
interventions such as pre-task planning, using the right tools and education and awareness of
potential hazards.
High pressure line and equipment: workers in this industry may be exposed to hazards from
compressed gases or from high-pressure lines. This can be as a result of internal erosion of lines
which might result in leaks or line bursts.
Electrical and other hazardous energy: industry workers may be exposed to uncontrolled electrical,
mechanical, hydraulic, or other sources of hazardous energy if equipment is not designed,
installed, and maintained properly.
Machine hazards: oil and gas extraction workers may be exposed to a wide variety of rotating
wellhead equipment including top drives and kelly drives, pumps, compressors, catheads, hoist
blocks, belt wheels and conveyors, and might be injured if they are struck by or caught between
unguarded machines.
Planning and prevention: many countries within the industry use a job safety analysis processes to
identify hazards and find solutions to reduce incidents that could lead to injury or fatalities.

Metrics and numeric limits

The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) recent ‘Safety Data Report’ concluded
thatfewer fatalities and injuries occurred in 2019 compared to the year prior (IOGP, 2020). In 2019, the
industry experienced 25 fatalities in 22 separate incidents across 3 billion work hours. The largest
proportion of fatalities was attributed to ‘caught in, under or between’ incidents, which excludes those
involving dropped objects. Data reported by IOGP members also recorded a decline in the number of
injuries. In 2019, there were 0.92 injuries per million hours worked. Overall, participating companies
reported 21,899 days of work lost through injuries (IOGP, 2020).

Key relevant UN convention / multilateral treaty

C155 - Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 155) (ILO, 1981).

Occupational safety and health in the oil and gas production and oil refining sector (ILO, no date).

ILO International labour standards

• C155 - Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155)

• R164 - Occupational Safety and Health Recommendation, 1981 (No. 164)
• C187 - Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187)
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• R197 - Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Recommendation, 2006 (No.

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197)
• C161 - Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161)
• R171 - Occupational Health Services Recommendation, 1985 (No. 171)

ILO Codes of practice

• Safety and health in the construction of fixed offshore installations in the petroleum industry

Global Political Commitments: Initiatives, Declarations, Action Plans, Programmes as listed by the
Global Marine Oil Pollution Information Gateway (no date)

Global Political Commitments: Initiatives, Declarations, Action Plans, Programmes

• Agenda 21. World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD 2002).
• Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based
Activities (GPA).

International Conventions
• Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
• MARPOL 73/78: International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Shipping. Pollution
Casualties. have been
amended twice in 1991 and 1996. The IMO provides the secretariat for the Convention.
• London Convention: Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and
Other Matter.

Examples of drivers, outcomes and risk management

The IOGP serves as the industry’s regulator and as a global partner for improving safety, and
environmental and social performance. The IOGP also acts as a global forum within which members
can identify and share best practices to achieve improvements in health, safety, the environment,
security, social responsibility, engineering and operations within the sector. The IOGP works to
improve the industry and make a positive contribution to society through a number of external
projects (IOGP, no date):

Standards Solution: a forum for developing ISO standards with interested parties.
Reports, guidelines, publications on a range of oil and gas topics including recommended
practices, safety, and management.
The IOGP Data Portal, through which it collects safety and environmental data from its member
companies annually.

Leading oil and gas companies have increased efforts towards adopting a risk-based approach,
through enhancing risk management capability such as the management of health, safety, and
environment (HSE) risks by implementing the risk management framework 130 31000:2009 to
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achieve sustainable development (Rodhi et al., 2018).

References
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5/26/24, 1:35 PM Safety Hazards Associated with Oil and Gas | PreventionWeb

Global Marine Oil Pollution Information Gateway, no date. Global Action

(http://oils.gpa.unep.org/framework/global-action.htm). Accessed 19 October 2020.

IAEA, 2019. World Energy Outlook: Oil (https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2019/oil).

Accessed 30 April 2021.

ILO, no date. Occupational safety and health in the oil and gas production and oil refining sector.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) (https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-
work/industries-sectors/WCMS_219028/lang--en/index.htm). Accessed 8 November 2020.

ILO, 1981. C155 - Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 155). International Labour
Organisation (ILO) (https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?
p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C155). Accessed 8 November 2020.

ILO, 2010. Working conditions of contract workers in the oil and gas industries. Working Paper No.
276. International Labour Organisation (ILO) (https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---
ed_dialogue/---sector/documents/publication/wcms_161194.pdf). Accessed 8 November 2020.

IOGP, no date. IOGP data portal. International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP)
(https://data.iogp.org/). Accessed 8 November 2020.

IOGP, 2020. Fatalities and injuries down in 2019, says new IOPG report. International Association of
Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) (https://www.iogp.org/blog/news/fatalities-and-injuries-down-in-2019-
says-new-iogp-report). Accessed 8 November 2020.

Rodhi, N.N., N. Anwar and I.P.A. Wiguna, 2018. A review of disaster risk mitigation in the oil and gas
project. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
(https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/106/1/012009/pdf). Accessed 5 November
2020.

US Department of Labor, no date. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Oil and Gas
Extraction: Safety hazards associated with oil and gas extraction activities
(https://www.osha.gov/oil-and-gas-extraction). Accessed 8 November 2020.

Type

Technological
Cluster

Industrial Failure (/hips-cluster/industrial-failure)

Coordinating agency or organisation

Not identified.

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