SNYDER, Texas, Sept. 11, 2008
U.S. Oilfield Deaths Skyrocket With Demand
High Prices Fetched By Gas, Oil, See Roughnecks Working Longer, Harder, Dying More Often
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A oil well worker reaches up to guide a pipe into an oil well in Talpa, Texas on May 23, 2008. (AP PHOTO)
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A oil well worker reaches up to guide a pipe into an oil well in Talpa, Texas on May 23, 2008. (AP PHOTO)
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Oil drips out as workers lay pipe into an oil well in Talpa, Texas, May 23, 2008. (AP PHOTO)
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Garrett's grisly end illustrates yet another soaring cost of America's unquenchable thirst for energy: Deaths among those working the nation's oil and gas fields have risen at an alarming rate, The Associated Press has found.
At least 598 workers died on the job between 2002 and 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During that period, the number of deaths per year rose by around 70 percent, from 72 victims in 2002 to 125 in 2006 and a preliminary count of 120 in 2007.
The number of people laboring in the nation's oil and gas fields has been soaring as part of a drilling boom that began in 2000-01, but that alone does not appear to explain the rising death toll, since the fatality rate - that is, the number killed relative to the number of workers - also climbed during the first half of the decade.
Many of those deaths have happened in Texas, the nation's largest producer of crude oil and natural gas.
Experts blame several factors for pushing the toll ever higher in an industry long considered one of the most dangerous in the nation. Among them:
Workers at drilling sites are surrounded by heavy machinery that can kill or maim in an instant. About half the workers who die are struck by equipment or are killed in motor vehicle accidents. Others fall from catwalks, are crushed by falling loads, burned in explosions or become tangled in chains and cables.
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"This is a very, very hazardous industry with a very high rate of injuries and fatalities," said Peg Seminario, director of safety and health for the AFL-CIO. "Safety and health problems are not getting the attention they need. With the growing demand for oil and petroleum products, the production pressures are going to increase and the safety and health problems are going to get worse."With the growing demand for oil and petroleum products, the production pressures are going to increase and the safety and health problems are going to get worse.
Peg Seminario, AFL-CIOMany experienced oilfield workers left the industry in the mid-1980s during the oil bust, when a barrel sold for less than $10. Now, with prices over $100 a barrel, many drilling companies are hiring workers with little or no experience.
"A lot of the rig crews are made up of people who were working at Wal-Mart yesterday. Literally," said Mark Altom of the Woodard, Okla.-based Energy Training Council, a nonprofit organization whose programs are recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Kenny Jordan, executive director of the Association of Energy Service Companies, made up of 750 member companies that service oil wells, said that while even one death is too many, oilfield workers are on the job far more hours than before, and that translates into increased chances of injury or death.
He said companies are spending more money to train workers to do their jobs more safely, adding, "I think most people in our industry are cognizant and they have the best interest of their employees in mind."
Garrett's mother, Darlene Murrell, said she believes her son would still be alive had he received more thorough training and better supervision after Patterson-UTI Energy hired him as a rig crew floor hand, a job that might have paid $50,000 a year with overtime.
"I hate to think that someone else is going to have to go through the same thing that I went through," she said.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- The real issue is TRAINING or lack of it. I have worked in the Oil Fields. Idiots manage some rigs and you have to Watch Your Own Arse and Protect yourself. It is DEFENSIVE working, very much like defensive driving...pay attention to the other guy!
DaVicar I see you changed you name again...got booted huh? - Reply to this comment
- And you thought nuclear power was dangerous.
- Reply to this comment
- There is so much sarcasm in these posts these days it leaves no real debate. USLESS PEOPLE
- Reply to this comment
- This article insinuates that the oil companies haven''t even built out the oil fields they already have leases on.
It''s time the US views oil in the same eye as gold. don''t give the gold that belongs to US citizens to a corporate entity that will sell back the gold to the same citizens at a terribly over inflated profit. - Reply to this comment
- The raping of America.
- Reply to this comment
- Lives sacrificed on the altar of Exxon Mobil (who sponsors every other story on CBS, but none that reflect negatively on oil...and probably not this one either).
- Reply to this comment
- Whats a matter, Slim? You dont have a BIG, STRONG, OIL MAN to serve you your Bon-Bons?
I would LOVE to see you up against my big, strong oil man, sugarpie! You apparently have NEVER tangled with a southern republican woman before, have you...you have no way of winning with me. Anyway, I have better things to do like cook dinner and have it on the table when my hubbie walks through the door in an hour. Signing off now....have a blessed evening, VICAR boy. ;-) Slim, you sound like a good guy, have a great night! - Reply to this comment
- But if you could pass some of those Bon Bons on over to me, that would be delightfull. Starting to get the munchies over here. LOL ------------------------------------------------------ Posted by slim1h2o
Whats a matter, Slim? You dont have a BIG, STRONG, OIL MAN to serve you your Bon-Bons? - Reply to this comment
- I''''m not talking "may haves". look at the facts. and I don''''t care about the WMD. The Kurds were on the receiving end of WMD and the torture and rape commited by his sons and others should have been enough for any real American to intervene anyways. experienceing stats.
Posted by biger-e at 04:47 PM : Sep 11, 2008
The ONLY justification that Bush could find to invade Iraq, according to the UN charter, is if he posed an imminent threat TO US. THAT is why Bush fabricated the WMD stories. You can''t say "I don;t care about the WMD''s", because without those lies, we could NEVER have invaded Iraq.
What he did to the Kurds / his own people, INCLUDING torture and raping them, WAS NOT A LEGAL JUSTIFICATION for us to invade, no matter how much we opposed those actions. The UN charter, which we''re still a member of, says so. (And whether you like or hate the UN, remember that WE -- THE US -- had MORE input into the charter when it was created, than anyone else.) - Reply to this comment
- U.S. Oilfield Deaths Skyrocket With Demand
High Prices Fetched By Gas, Oil, See Roughnecks Working Longer, Harder, Dying More Often
And big oil''s response?
"Hmmm, I wonder how many BILLIONS that comes out to per death? Oh well - it doesn''t matter. They were probably only middle class anyway. (Insert Snidely Whiplash''s evil laugh, here.) - Reply to this comment
Ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy 
