The American Petroleum Institute reports the oil industry significantly improved its safety record again last year.
API said its annual survey of oil and gas companies found that, for every 100 workers, there were 1.95 incidents of injury or illness in 1997. That compares with 2.13 incidents in 1996, continuing a steady improvement of safety in the industry over the last decade.
It said every sector of the petroleum and petrochemical industry reported fewer injuries and illnesses.
Among the 139 companies providing safety data, there were four fatalities in 1997. Only one, a fire and explosion in an oil refinery, involved an actual industrial accident. The others included a shooting, an incident involving a power mower, and the collision of a truck and car.
Red Cavaney, API president and CEO, said, "These numbers demonstrate the petroleum industry's continuing commitment to making the workplace safer every year."
API said that, over the past decade, the oil and gas industry's safety record is markedly better than the rest of the U.S. work force, as measured by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the BLS, incidence rates per 100 workers in the overall private sector work force fell from 8.3 in 1987 to 7.4 last year, while in the oil industry the rate was halved, to 1.95 from 3.89.
API said the incidence rate during 11 years fell 71% in petrochemical manufacturing, 66% in refining, 64% in gas processing, 58% in pipeline operations, 51% in exploration and production, and 20% in marketing.
"All of the major oil companies, plus scores of small and medium-sized firms, voluntarily participated in the survey, providing a composite picture of employee safety conditions throughout the industry," API said.
"The APIellipseannouncement of its strong safety record only underscores what OCAW has been saying for many years: that the OSHA (U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration) recordable rate for injuries and illnesses is woefully inadequate as an indicator of safety for petrochemical and petroleum plants," said the union.
"These facilities have traditionally had low injury rates; they are capital rather than labor-intensive, and fewer workers mean less injuries. When accidents occur in these facilities, they tend to be of the catastrophic variety."
OCAW also charges that the API statistics provide an incomplete picture, because, in accordance with OSHA regulation, the API figures do not include data on contract workers.
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