A Good Job

In the October 2008 newsletter of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia (IOGAWV) there was an article by Greg Kozera (starting on page 9) about the economic benefits of oil and gas. Greg was using the example of a well crew:

“The drilling supervisor was probably in his 50s, two of his crew were in their 20s and the third was 19, according the supervisor. I understood from the supervisor that they got paid fairly well and had good benefits. . . . Where else could three men with high school diploma be so successful so quickly?”

What Greg didn’t write about was the high fatality rate for oil and gas workers — higher than the mining industry’s. In another post I’ll write a little about the Australian Health Watch Study of workers’ health and issues related to exposures to petroleum products. The Australian study is underwritten by the industry there; I know of no similar long term study in this country. That is telling, isn’t it?

Instead, what I’ll present is the tip of the iceberg about worker injury and fatality, for which a good deal is known. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics asked the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to investigate the dramatic rise in fatalities a few years ago and the CDC report can be read here. Essentially what was found was a direct link between the number of workers killed and the number of rigs used in drilling and workovers each year. The boom in drilling that began shortly after 2000 and reached a fever pitch a few years later had side effects that industry doesn’t want to talk about. Besides the environmental degradation, workers were being killed.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) produced a safety manual for oil and gas workers back in the 1980s and to the best of my knowledge it’s never been updated. The IOGAWV has their own, downloadable, safety manual which looks good but I wonder how many workers see something like this, much less are encouraged to study it.

One of the issues for us is to remember that individuals involved in the oil and gas industry are people, that they have pride in what they are doing. We have to be continually aware of that pride, even though we often have issues in how they are doing their jobs or in the outcomes of their efforts.

There’s a good story at the High Country News website, Disposable Workers of the Oil and Gas Fields by Ray Ring, that we recommend. Closer to home is this story from a 1984 accident in West Virginia that is taken from NIOSH’s Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology (FACE) Project. This is quoted from FACE 8502:

On the day of the accident, at approximately 7:30 a.m., a five-man crew assembled in the office of the field supervisor to receive their instructions for the day. The crew consisted of two service rig hands (hereafter designated “rig hands”) and their supervisor, the service rig operator (hereafter designated “operator”). In addition, the rig supervisor (hereafter designated “supervisor”) and the service rig tool pusher (hereafter designated “tool pusher”) were assigned to the crew so that the supervisor could instruct the tool pusher in the assembly and usage of the packing and down hole tools necessary to complete the job. The crew was informed that they were to “blow the well down” (relieve the internal pressure). If they could get the pressure down to acceptable levels, they were to start putting the tubing down. All members of the crew were familiar with the procedures necessary to blow down the well and insert the tubing. The crew began to work by about 8:30 a.m.

When the well Is “blown down,” gas, water, acid, and occasionally oil are released. These substances are directed into the fracturing tanks through two-inch steel “flow back” lines. Because of the pressure exerted on these lines, they are secured to the tanks with safety chains. When sufficient steel lines are not available to plumb in all of the tanks, a high pressure, double walled, two-inch rubber hose, called a Kelly hose, is used as a flow back line. When the Kelly hose is used, it must be tied down, both to the inside and outside of the tank, to prevent it from whipping around when the well is flowing during blow down.

By approximately 9:30 a.m., the well had blown down sufficiently to begin inserting the tubing, so the operator and one of the rig hands began to disconnect the well from the fracturing tanks. The remaining members of the crew (the supervisor, tool pusher, and one rig hand) were near the service rig, assembling the down hole equipment when they heard the operator yell that the rig hand was in the tank. The operator then entered the tank himself. Despite warnings by the rig supervisor to stay out of the tank, the other rig hand entered the tank, followed by the tool pusher. When the supervisor got to the top of the tank and looked in, he could only see two of the men and they were unresponsive and “dazed looking.” He immediately got off of the tank and opened the valves to release the water in the tank. He then called for help on the truck radio.

When the call was received at the office, the rescue squad was notified, and arrangements were made to have the supervisor of a second crew meet the ambulance and give them directions. In the meantime, the rig hands from the second crew proceeded to the site to provide additional assistance, and other supervisors and employees proceeded to the site as well.

When the two rig hands from the second crew arrived, they helped the supervisor remove two clean-out panels at the bottom of the tank. By this time, most of the liquids had been drained from the bottom of the tank. When the panels were removed, the bodies of the operator and tool pusher were found lying on the bottom, of the tank. One of the rig hands was found standing in the tank, but was unresponsive; the other rig hand, also unresponsive, was found attempting to climb up the internal support bars of the tank, but appeared ready to fall. The two rig hands who had entered the tank and survived the incident reported that within 10 – 15 seconds of entering, they were overcome by the gas. They could not remember anything past that point.

The autopsy reports indicated that the rig operator and the tool pusher died by drowning due to asphyxiation.

February 8, 2009