Fatalities in Oil and Gas Extraction Database, an Industry-Specific Worker Fatality Surveillance System - United States, 2014-2019.

Problem/Condition: The U.S. oil and gas extraction (OGE) industry faces unique safety and health hazards and historically elevated fatality rates. The lack of existing surveillance data and occupational safety and health research called for increased efforts to better understand factors contributing to worker fatalities in the OGE industry. This report describes the creation of the Fatalities in Oil and Gas Extraction (FOG) database, presents initial findings from the first 6 years of data collection (2014-2019), highlights ways that FOG data have been used, and describes the benefits and challenges of maintaining the surveillance system. Period Covered: 2014-2019. Description of System: In 2013, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) created the FOG database, a surveillance system comprising an industry-specific worker fatality database. NIOSH researchers worked with OGE partners to establish inclusion criteria for the database and develop unique database variables to elucidate industry-specific factors related to each fatality (e.g., phase of operation, worker activity, and working alone). FOG cases are identified through various sources, such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports, media reports, and notifications from professional contacts. NIOSH researchers compile source documents; OGE-specific database variables are coded by multiple researchers to ensure accuracy. Data collection ceased in 2019 because grant funding ended. Results: During 2014-2019, a total of 470 OGE worker fatalities were identified in the FOG database. A majority of these fatalities (69.4%) were identified from OSHA reports and Google Alerts (44.7% and 24.7%, respectively). Unique database variables created to characterize fatalities in the OGE industry (i.e., phase of operation, worker activity, working alone, and working unobserved) were identified in approximately 85% of OGE worker fatality cases. The most frequent fatal events were vehicle incidents (26.8%), contact injuries (21.7%), and explosions (14.5%). The event type was unknown among 5.7% of worker fatalities. Approximately three fourths of fatalities identified through the FOG database were among contractors. Approximately 20% of cases included workers who were working alone. Interpretation: The FOG database is a resource for identifying safety and health trends and emerging issues among OGE workers (e.g., exposure to hydrocarbon gases and vapors and fatalities resulting from cardiac events) that might not be available in other surveillance systems. The FOG database also helps researchers better identify groups of workers that are at increased risk for injury in an already high-risk industry. Challenges exist when maintaining an industry-specific surveillance system, including labor-intensive data collection, the need for researchers with substantial knowledge of the industry, delays in access to timely data, and missing source file data. Public Health Actions: Continued surveillance of worker fatalities in the OGE industry is recommended to help identify new safety and health hazards and guide research and prevention activities. Industry, academic institutions, and government can use findings from the FOG database to identify factors contributing to fatal injuries in OGE and develop interventions to improve worker safety and health. The findings in this report also can be used by other industries with high fatality rates to support the development of worker fatality surveillance systems.

Sudden Deaths Among Oil and Gas Extraction Workers Resulting from Oxygen Deficiency and Inhalation of Hydrocarbon Gases and Vapors - United States, January 2010-March 2015.

In 2013, an occupational medicine physician from the University of California, San Francisco, contacted CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about two oil and gas extraction worker deaths in the western United States. The suspected cause of these deaths was exposure to hydrocarbon gases and vapors (HGVs) and oxygen (O2)-deficient atmospheres after opening the hatches of hydrocarbon storage tanks. The physician and experts from NIOSH and OSHA reviewed available fatality reports from January 2010 to March 2015, and identified seven additional deaths with similar characteristics (nine total deaths). Recommendations were made to industry and regulators regarding the hazards associated with opening hatches of tanks, and controls to reduce or eliminate the potential for HGV exposure were proposed. Health care professionals who treat or evaluate oil and gas workers need to be aware that workers might report symptoms of exposure to high concentrations of HGVs and possible O2 deficiency; employers and workers need to be aware of this hazard and know how to limit exposure. Medical examiners investigating the death of oil and gas workers who open tank hatches should consider the contribution of O2 deficiency and HGV exposure.