International Oil Industry Accident Rates Remain “Stubbornly High”

The London-based E&P Forum reports that the main cause of death among workers in the international oil exploration and production industry, according to a detailed analysis of accident statistics provided by the major international oil companies, is vehicle accidents.

Accidents reported by the industry during 1161 million hours worked in 1997 showed that there were 100 fatalities, a third of them in incidents involving vehicles. The fatal accident rate rose slightly in 1997 to 8.35 per 100 million hours worked—in 1996 the rate was 8.12. Aircraft incidents were the second highest cause of death, with 14 workers killed in helicopter accidents, 12 of them in one crash in Norway.

The statistics were compiled by the London-based International Oil Industry Exploration & Production Forum from returns from 40 member companies, nine non-member companies, and two national trade associations. The accident reports submitted cover oil exploration and production activities in 68 countries and the statistics are the most comprehensive since the gathering of international data on oil industry accident rates began in 1984.

The fatal accident rate for company personnel is better than in the contractor sector, but contractors have a better long-term trend of improvement.

Lyn Arscott, executive director of the E&P Forum, said: "The greatest opportunity for improvement lies in a reduction in vehicle accidents and aviation incidents. The oil exploration and production industry has always involved people working in often hazardous and difficult conditions, but it is ironic that the largest number of fatalities have taken place when people are travelling to and from their workplace by road or air." The overall frequency of lost time injuries was 2.67 lost workday cases per million hours worked, essentially the same as the previous year, but less than half of the level recorded ten years ago. Companies operating in the Asia-Australia region reported the best lost time injury rate of 1.03, but the South American region had the poorest performance with a reported rate of 4.96.