Society of Petroleum Engineers, HSE Now, November 16, 2017

HSE Now is a source for news and technical information affecting the health, safety, security, environment, and social responsibility discipline of the upstream oil and gas industry.

Of all of the dangerous activities in the oil and gas industry, driving remains at the top of the list. In 2014, the leading cause of fatalities in the industry was road accidents.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which recently released a report on 2014 oil and gas fatalities, 18% of the 101 deaths for the year were the result of roadway vehicle accidents. The report says that, of these incidents, nine fatally injured workers were not wearing seatbelts and five drivers were fatigued.

The report presents data from the NIOSH Fatalities in Oil and Gas Extraction (FOG) database and was updated recently to include data from the second half of the year. According to the report’s executive summary, it is intended to serve as a resource for health and safety professionals, managers, and other stakeholders in identifying and eliminating hazards encountered by workers during oil and gas extraction operations.

Fatalities are presented by rig count, workforce, location, industry group, event type, operation, activities, and the number of fatalities per incident. Cardiac and undetermined fatalities with no known work exposure are generally excluded from the report but are included in the FOG database.

For 2014, the database lists 88 fatal incidents accounting for 101 fatalities. In ten of these incidents, more than one worker was killed. These deaths occurred in 14 states, with the largest proportion occurring in Texas (44%), Oklahoma (11%), and North Dakota (10%). These states also had the greatest proportion of industry activity as measured by the number of active US rotary rigs, with 47%, 11%, and 9% respectively.

The largest number of deaths listed in the database were workers in service companies (45%), and these occurred during all stages of extraction. Fourteen fatalities occurred during completions; 11 during production; and five during well servicing, workover, or intervention.

Source: https://www.spe.org/en/hsenow/hse-now-article-page/?art=3608

From Tate Blanchard, WTRF News 7, August 27, 2016

PROCTOR, W.Va. -Evacuation shelters, like the one at Grand View Volunteer Fire Department, popped up in several different locations around Wetzel and Marshall Counties. It is all in an effort to keep people safe.

It was a frightening situation this morning in Wetzel County as neighbors learned they must leave their homes due to an accident at the Axiall plant. “It was very scary because my husband had worked at Axiall at one time,” said Pat Kendall, an evacuated resident.

This is not the first time the people living in the area have had to deal with a situation like this. Frank Kendall is now retired but spent decades working at the plant, and he has dealt with the situations first hand as an employee. He says it is not something they ever get used to. “I worked there for 42 years, and I’m a little bit familiar with that chlorine. It’s bad stuff. I’ve been it in a few times, and I went down on my knees,” said Kendall.

It was right around 9:30 this morning that personnel with Station Three heard over the scanner there was an evacuation in place. That’s when they decided to jump into action, activating their shelter. “When I went into service, I told dispatch that we would set this up as a shelter to send people here instead of sending them all the way back into New Martinsville,” said Dian Wilson, volunteer.

One family, new to the area, needed help getting out, so Dian went to get them. “It was pretty bad down there at the bottom of Route 89. It was very strong. You could taste it, and you could smell it,” said Wilson.

It was a 16-year-old girl who decided to put the marquee out, letting everyone know who drives up and down County Road 89 that Station Three is open to help.

“I called my son, and he was in PPG at the time, J&T Paving, and he works there for them. He was there, and he said it was just a big old green cloud coming after them. He said he took off down the road and up over the hill,” said Jo Cartwright, an evacuee.

Inside, everyone enjoyed conversation and some food provided to them in a nice, cool environment–all the while worrying about when they could return home.

People at Grand View Volunteer Fire Department say they were not forced to activate this morning, they just thought it was the best thing to do in order to keep the people they serve safe.

Source: http://www.yourohiovalley.com/story/32855423/evacuees-react-to-axiall-chemical-leak