Does adequate manpower working on oil rigs and oil fields increase safety in Louisiana?

Louisiana – February 27, 2023

The total number of active drilling rigs in the United States stayed the same in the beginning of this year according to new data from Baker Hughes. The total rig count stayed at 771 the 3rd week of January, 161 rigs higher than the rig count this time in 2022, and 304 rigs lower than the rig count at the beginning of 2019, prior to the pandemic. Oil rigs in the United States fell by 4 to 609 and gas rigs rose by 4, to 160, while miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 2. Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing unfinished wells, a more frugal use of finances than drilling new well, rose during the week ending January 20. The frac spread count is now 258, up 4 from the previous week. This is 7 fewer crews than a month ago and 1 more than a year ago. Of the 15 industries tracked by the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, fatality rates within the oil and gas industry are third behind only transportation, agriculture and forestry. Hazard control is critical on oil rigs, making it crucial for both employers and employees to participate in safety programs to help prevent unnecessary risk. Offshore workers are remote from immediate emergency medical care, increasing the odds of severe injury, or accidental death. A legal professional will be able to assist accident victims and their families through navigation of a fair claim for personal injury harms.

Oil field and rig dangers.

Adequate workforce is imperative to safety on oil field and rigs. Working at an oil field or on a rig is a dangerous job, but if proper safety precautions are addressed, it is not as risky of a workplace as imagined, even if the minimum requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) specific to that occupation are met. Data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health claims that a person working in the oil or gas industry is more likely to die on the job than any other American worker. If there are deviations from standard requirements, the outcomes can be disastrous for workers, and attorneys may need to prove that negligence was the cause for work site accidents at oil fields including:

gas pipeline explosions,
industrial vehicle accidents,
silica exposure,
other chemical exposures, and
collapsing rigs.

A Louisiana toxic exposure injury attorney can be instrumental when a person’s actions, or omission to act, violate workplace standards, where the law requires the violating person to compensate the injured parties.

Work Site Accidents.

Oil Field workers are exposed to many dangers utilizing the heavy machinery, working with large compression valves, toxic chemicals, and electrical components related to big rigging. Employers and site managers need to make sure work area safety standards are maintained. Supervisors and maintenance managers owe employees the duty of patrolling work areas regularly to make sure there are no deviations from safety standards, and to check for naturally occurring dangers related to weather changes, or aging equipment. Workers’ compensation attorneys can help when there is a deviation from work safety standards that may cause accidents related to:

Electrocution
Gas Explosion Blast
Falls
Toxic Chemical Exposure.

Hire a lawyer.

Oil field accidents are generally catastrophic events that can cause severe and lasting detrimental loss through injury to workers including illness, broken bones, burns, brain damage and wrongful death. An experienced attorney at the Stag Liuzza Law Firm may be able to guide victims, and their families’ actions toward accident remedy.

STAG LIUZZA, LLC

One Canal Place
365 Canal Street
Suite 2850
New Orleans, LA 70130

Ph: 504-593-9600
Fax: 504-593-9601

Sources.