The offshore oil industry creates its own superlatives and statistics. Every year new records are created in offshore drilling, production efficiency, and water depth. It is one of the world's most energy-efficient industries, and its progress on environmental issues has been remarkable, if unrecognized by many.
Sadly, one statistic remains stubbornly static. The number of people killed in exploration and production operations each year.
The Offshore Europe 2001 Confer ence in Aberdeen recently saw the unveiling of the latest global accident rates in the industry and the number of hydrocarbon releases in operations on the UK Continental Shelf.
2000 accident rates
The accident rates for 2000 come from the database of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers and are compiled from accident re turns from 39 companies operating in 71 countries. These data cover 1.6 billion hr worked, 65% by contractor personnel and 78% onshore, and as such are the most comprehensive available.
They show that 27 company and 92 contractor personnel were killed in the industry, with 29 third-party deaths occurring in incidents involving oil industry staff, mainly drownings following boat collisions in the offshore sector. Almost half the fatalities were in Africa and the Middle East.
The previous year there were 35 fewer fatal accidents, but the number of fatalities at 7/1million work-hr remains fixed, which means that the fatality rate can't be explained away by pointing to better reporting practices within the industry.
This is odd, as in all other areas the safety performance of the industry has improved in every year in the past decade, with the lost-time injury frequency rate 3% better than the previous year at 2,960 injuries resulting in at least 1 day off work.
Hydrocarbon releases
The data on hydrocarbon releases came from the UK government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and follows a 3-year campaign on the UKCS to cut releases. It seems to be working, with the overall number of major releases down to single figures for the first time, 8 vs. 12 in 1999.
Taf Powell, head of the HSE's offshore division, commented, "Given that major releases have the greatest potential for rapid escalation, this is an encouraging improvement, particularly when the long term average is 15-20 major releases a year.
"There is still much to be done, and we will be working closely with the industry, looking at the problem areas identified to reduce further the number of releases. We will work to isolate root causes and identify appropriate intervention."
The data show that minor releases are rising, but this is being put down to better data collecting, and the operators on the UKCS are now committed to reducing major and significant releases by 50% in 4 years.
Although the oil industry safety record must be seen in perspective-for example, sport injuries in areas such as horse riding occur more frequently, and the fatality rate is higher-that's no consolation to those personally involved.
The industry seems to be able to meet the technical challenges nature and economics throw at it with considerable regularity. One can hope that next year's safety statistics will show that this is another area where success can be measured.
