What Are The Dangers Faced by Oil Field Workers?

Attorney Grant Lawson | 888-634-7366 | Free Consult

What sorts of dangers do oil field workers face on the job?

This Quick Question features Grant Lawson, an attorney with Metier Law Firm in Casper, Wyoming. He explains that oil field workers face many hazards on the job, and that their employers must make sure the job site is safe and up to code.

To learn more, contact the attorney directly by calling 888-634-7366 or by submitting a contact form on this page. The consultation is free and confidential, and you owe no out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Oil field workers face many dangers on the job.

Oil fields present many opportunities for accidents and injuries. When accidents occur on-site, they tend to have serious consequences. From driving to actually working out of the oil field, the startup of the operation, natural drilling, completions, fracking, flow-back, equipment set-up and removal and more, the risks associated with this environment are constant and severe. Even the natural environment presents dangers to the people working these fields, including explosive gas, hydrocarbons, and H2S which is a deadly gas fully capable of killing the people exposed to it.

In addition, there are electrical hazards involved in the wide variety of electrical equipment on site. This myriad of oil field dangers requires a strict and comprehensive set of rules that must be enforced and followed on-site at all times.

It is imperative that safety rules are set and consistently followed on an oil field to prevent catastrophic situations.

Oil field safety requires a high level of attention from supervisors and workers alike to ensure that everyone is taking the proper measures to prevent catastrophic situations and injuries from arising. However, to meet this standard of safety, there must first be extensive safety rules established by the employer, communicated to the workers, and upheld by supervisors. Breaches in these safety rules should be immediately reported and corrected to avoid the breach of safety from occurring again. Safety meetings should be held on a regular basis to keep everyone up to date with new safety procedures and to ensure that everyone is upholding the procedures currently in place.

Some key elements to look for which could indicate the overall safety preparedness of an oil field operation include whether adequate personal protective equipment is provided, there is a culture of open communication between workers and supervisors regarding safety concerns, and if violations of safety conduct are regularly addressed with corrective action. If you have been injured on an oil field and feel that negligence in regard to safety was at play, seek legal counsel to learn more about your situation and get a lawyer’s opinion on whether you have a viable case to bring forward. The majority of personal injury attorneys work on contingency, which means you won’t have to pay them a penny unless and until they win your case. With that in mind, request a consultation and discuss the safety of your operation with someone who knows the law surrounding dangers faced by oil field workers.

To learn more, contact Grant Lawson directly by calling 888-634-7366 or by submitting a contact form on this page. The consultation is free and confidential, and you owe no out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Video Transcript:

Christine Haas:

This is a Quick Question from AskTheLawyers.com: what are some of the dangers that oil field workers face? Wyoming attorney Grant Lawson lays them out for us.

Grant Lawson:

There's numerous dangers out there in the oil field. Everything from driving to everything that's done out of the oil field, the startup of an operation, natural drilling, the completions, the fracking, the flow-back, the equipment removal, equipment set up. I could spend a lot of time going over all the numerous ways that that oil field is dangerous. Not to mention, of course, the explosive gas, and hydrocarbons that are not only a danger in terms of explosive events but H2S which is a silent but deadly gas out there that could kill people.

There's electrical concerns, a lot of electrical equipment, all sorts of hazards out there. It's known as a very, very dangerous industry and it's a very, very important that people not only have safety rules set up, but are following safety rules to a T.

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