Page 43 - Occupational Health & Safety, January/February 2020

environment, that can be overlooked.
Storage tanks and containers, mud and reserve pits and areas
around wellheads may all meet confined space criteria. Employees who perform work in these areas need to be properly trained and aware of how hazards such as asphyxiation, ignition of flammable vapors, and entrapment can quickly increase in confined spaces.
Hazardous, uncontrolled electrical, hydraulic or mechanical energy can also present a harmful environment. Even if equipment is properly designed, installed, maintained and grounded, injuries and fatalities can still occur if it is not operated correctly. Clearly marking ground connections, posting operating procedures and strictly adhering to lockout/tagout procedures before repairs are made helps to keep employees safe.
Falls from Elevation
In a study of fatal falls among derrickmen conducted by the Na- tional Institute of Health, 86 percent of the victims were not us- ing appropriate fall protection. Of those who were wearing a fall protection harness, 63 percent of those fatal falls occurred because the harness was not connected to an anchor point. Most of the fatal falls were from more than 30 feet.
Oil and gas work is physically demanding. It is often performed in extreme weather conditions—both hot and cold. It typically also requires lifting heavy objects, reaching overhead, pushing or pull- ing large loads, awkward bending and repetitive tasks that lead to ergonomic injuries. Couple any of these ergonomic woes with the demands of the fast-paced job and the need to wear a restrictive fall
harness and it can be a perfect recipe for problems.
Failure to guard openings, ladders, open pits, floor holes and stairs is a top violation that is cited during OSHA inspections. In- stalling fences, railing and other forms of fall protection in addition to requiring the use of personal fall arrest systems (harnesses) for all workers who work at elevation can help to decrease the chance
of fatal falls.
Other Hazards
In addition to recognizing these common hazards, facilities also need to look for specific hazards at each site, evaluate risks and prepare for them. Pre-fabricated risk assessments from a cor- porate office aren’t enough. They also aren’t just exercises to be worked out on paper prior to a startup and put into a binder. Oil and gas sites are dynamic, and risks may change from hour-to- hour, day-to-day or week-to-week. Keeping plans and procedures updated and communicating changes with employees are keys to making everyone aware of hazards so that they are better pre- pared to avoid them and prevent incidents.
Karen D. Hamel, CSP, WACH, is a regulatory compliance profes- sional, trainer, and technical writer for New Pig. She has more than 24 years of experience helping EHS professionals find solu- tions to meet EPA, OSHA, and DOT regulations and has had more than 100 articles published on a variety of EHS topics. She can be reached at 1-800-HOT-HOGS® (468-4647) or by email, karenh@newpig.com.
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