'Step Up for Safety' Campaign Seeks to Improve Oil& Gas Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced its annual Step Up for Safety campaign. This campaign is intended to raise awareness about the many safety hazards facing workers in the oil and gas industry.

Each year, thousands of workers in the oil and gas industry are injured, making it one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. Furthermore, Director of NIOSH Dr. John Howard says that oil and gas has a fatality rate that's roughly seven times higher than the average rate across all United States industries over the past two decades. The biggest hazards faced in oil and gas is explosions/fires, struck by equipment, and vehicle crashes.

OSHA says its 2016 Step Up for Safety Campaign will help to reduce incidents in the oil and gas industry by raising awareness to the many hazards that workers face on a daily basis. The voluntary event encourages employers to discuss safety concerns with their works through various Toolbox Talks. These short sessions should focus around hazards that workers in the oil and gas industry face, such as fires for instance. Employers should encourage workers to keep flammable and combustible liquids/materials away from heat sources, and fire extinguishers should be tested and properly maintained to ensure functionality in the event of a fire.

"The 2016 Step Up for Safety is a voluntary event for employers to talk directly to employees about safety. The purpose of the Step Up is to provide information to companies that can be used at their sites for training and awareness. We have gathered information from many sources that have been developed to assist employers in providing this training," wrote OSHA on its Step Up for Safety website.

According to OSHA, nearly half a million United States workers are employed in the oil and gas industry. OSHA goes on to say, however, that from just 2003 to 2010, 823 of these workers lost their lives on the job, making this one of the country's most dangerous industries. In addition to the hazards cited above, workers also face dangers like falls, confined spaces, chemical exposure, and asphyxiation.