The National Petroleum Refiners Association (NPRA) reports a 7% reduction in workplace injury and illness incidence rates for refineries in 1993, and a 21 % decrease for petrochemical plants.
NPRA, a trade organization composed of nearly all U.S. petroleum refiners and petrochemical manufacturers, released the results of its annual survey of occupational injuries and illnesses for 1993. The report summarizes data from 135 of the 162 U.S. member refineries, and 117 of the 172 U.S. member petrochemical plants. Overall response rate was 75% (Table 1).
INCIDENCE RATES
Refiners reported 2,773 total recordable cases for 134,987,835 employee hours worked in 1993, while petrochemical producers noted 1,391 for 105,920,168 hours. Incidence rate is defined as the number of recordable injury and illness cases per 100 full-time employees.
For refiners, the 1993 total recordable cases incidence rate was 4.1, compared to 4.4 in 1992 (Fig. 1). For petrochemical manufacturers, the rate was 2.6 in 1993, compared to 3.3 in 1992 (Fig. 2).
The incidence rate for refinery fatalities and lost workdays declined from 2.8 in 1990 to 2.0 in 1993. For petrochemical plants, that rate decreased from 1.4 to 1.3 during the same period.
The data collected for the NPRA report was kept in accordance with U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) record-keeping requirements. The survey is part of a comprehensive program developed and monitored by NPRA's fire and accident prevention committee to inform member companies and promote safety and accident prevention among member facilities.
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