International E&P fatalities increase in 1997

One hundred workers in the international exploration and production industry died in work-related accidents in 1997, a rise from 74 deaths in 1996.

This is the finding of the Oil Industry International Exploration & Production Forum (E&P Forum), London, which said vehicle accidents continue to be the main cause of death among E&P workers.

The forum said one third of the deaths involved vehicles, while aircraft incidents were the second most common cause of death: 14 workers were killed in helicopter accidents, 12 in one crash off Norway.

"Other multiple fatalities," said E&P Forum, "arose from two explosions in South America and one in Africa, and from vehicle accidents in Africa and the Middle East, the worst leading to four deaths."

Performance details

"The fatal incident rate rose slightly in 1997 to 6.54 fatal incidents/100 million hr worked; in 1996 the rate was 6.36," said E&P Forum. "The fatal accident rate for company personnel was better than for their contractor colleagues, but contractors have a better long-term trend of improvement."

The overall frequency of lost-time injuries, including fatalities, was 2.67 lost work days/million hr worked, essentially the same as in 1996.

"It should be noted, however," said the E&P Forum, "that the current lost-time injury frequency (LTIF) is less than half of the level recorded 10 years ago."

"Drilling performance improved significantly in 1997, recording an LTIF of 3.67," said E&P Forum, "but still had some way to go to match the performances of exploration and production. Exploration had the best performance, with an LTIF of 1.86."

Companies operating in the Asia-Australia region were said to have reported the lowest LTIF of 1.03, while the South America region has the poorest performance, with a reported LTIF of 4.96.

Lyn Arscott, executive director of the E&P Forum, said, "The continuing fatalities over the past 10 years without any marked reduction in their rate of occurrence is a matter of serious concern in the industry.

"The fatal accident rate has remained stubbornly high. This is disappointing and must clearly be a focus for immediate attention.

"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 has taken place when people are traveling to and from their work place by road or air."