Oil & Gas Well Site Workers
Drilling, completion (fracking) and well servicing crews work with heavy rotating equipment, high pressure and flammable gases. Highway crashes are the leading cause of death in this industry.
- Oil & Gas
Top hazards
- Vehicle crashes on long drives to remote sites, often with fatigue
- Struck by and caught in: tongs, pipe, cables, rotating equipment
- Fires and explosions from well gas and vapors
- Tank vapors: workers have died opening thief hatches to gauge tanks
- Hydrogen sulfide. See H2S.
- High-pressure lines and hammer unions
- Silica during hydraulic fracturing sand handling
- Falls from derricks and platforms
Key practices
- Manage fatigue and drive defensively; wear seatbelts. See Driving for Work.
- Wear FR clothing and personal gas monitors (H2S, LEL).
- Use remote tank gauging when possible; if hatches must be opened, follow procedures and stand upwind.
- Stay out of the red zone around rotating equipment and pressurized lines.
- Use fall protection on derricks and elevated platforms.
Phases of well work
- Site construction: building pads and roads with heavy equipment.
- Drilling: rig floor work with pipe, tongs, slips and the top drive; derrick work.
- Completions and fracking: high-pressure pumping, sand handling and flowback.
- Production and well servicing: workover rigs, tank batteries, gauging and hauling fluids.
The red zone
The “red zone” is the area around the rig floor, pipe handling equipment and pressurized lines where people are most likely to be struck or caught. Only workers needed for the task should be inside it, and only when the equipment is controlled. Many companies mark it with paint or signs.
Tank gauging and vapors
Workers have died from breathing hydrocarbon vapors and low oxygen when opening thief hatches on production tanks. Use remote gauging and sampling where available. If you must open a hatch, follow the procedure, stand upwind, wear a gas monitor and avoid working alone. See Hydrogen Sulfide and Gas Detectors.
High pressure
- Never stand in line with pressurized iron, hoses or valves.
- Use only matching hammer unions; mismatched unions with different pressure ratings have failed violently.
- Use whip restraints on high-pressure lines and clear the area during pressure tests.
Before the shift
- Rested and fit to drive and work
- FR clothing, hard hat, glasses, gloves and steel toes on
- Personal gas monitor bump-tested
- JSA reviewed for today’s tasks
- Muster point and wind direction known
- Red zone and lines of fire identified
Standards & references
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