OSHA Investigates High Oil Worker Death Rates

OSHA Investigates High Oil Worker Death Rates

North Dakota oil workers die every six weeks in dangerous Bakken oil fields

While North Dakota reaps the financial benefits from the Bakken oil fields, oil workers and their families pay a high price, including wrongful deaths that are caused by on-the-job accidents. Due to the high fatality rates in oil-producing states such as North Dakota and Texas, OSHA launched an official investigation in 2016 to thoroughly examine the causes of accidents and injuries in oil fields. OSHA is the leading national agency that investigates workplace health issues, and the oil industry has caught the attention of OSHA due to the extremely dangerous working conditions in the oil fields.

According to a study by Reveal, oil companies often avoid accountability for their employees’ deaths in the Bakken oil fields. The results from the study shed a tragic light on the oil industry’s negligence when it comes to their workers’ safety. The study also reported that an oil worker dies every six weeks in a Bakken oil field accident and since 2006 there have been 76 fatalities in the Bakken. However, the death rates aren’t accurate and are likely even higher. The study mentioned that federal regulators don’t have an accurate system set up to properly record fatalities caused by oil and gas accidents.

To learn more about workplace safety, OSHA distributed questionnaires to oil field employees in Texas and North Dakota. They asked specific questions about protective gear, hours worked, and if employers provide written safety guidelines to workers. Truck drivers who work in the oil industry were asked if they are paid by the load or per hour and if their employers require them to drive in bad weather conditions.

The results of the study will be published in early 2017, and the scientists who conducted the study plan to share the results with federal OSHA officials and make necessary health and safety improvements in the oil industry. However, representatives of major gas and oil companies don’t think that oil and gas employees are at risk.  Keri Cutting, vice president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, didn’t feel the OSHA survey was necessary and stated that the oil industry provides a “robust safety culture” for its employees.

Unfortunately, working in the North Dakota oil fields has its share of dangerous risks and workplace accidents still happen no matter how cautious you are. If you or a family member was injured in an oil field accident, turn to our compassionate legal team at Larson Law Firm, P.C. for support and assistance. Our oil field injury attorneys guide you through the litigation process every step of the way. To set up your free consultation today, call our office 701-484-4878 or contact us online. If you are unable to drive to our office, we offer convenient home or hospital visits to personally discuss your case.