The oil boom in North Dakota and elsewhere has helped the US become the world's leading energy provider and has captured the attention of Hollywood producers. It also has claimed the lives of dozens of oil field workers.
Now, that fallout from the boom is drawing renewed attention from government scientists.
In the largest study of its kind, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which investigates the causes of workplace health problems, said it intends to examine the factors that cause injuries and accidents in the oil fields in an effort to improve safety.
Scientists from the institute will distribute questionnaires starting next year to 500 oil field workers in North Dakota, Texas and one other state that will be determined in the coming months.
"This is a high-hazard industry, and different states have different levels of maturity when it comes to safety and health for this workforce," said Kyla Retzer, a Denver-based epidemiologist with the institute's oil and gas program, which will be administering the study.
A recent investigation by Reveal showed how major oil companies avoid accountability for workers' deaths in the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota and Montana. On average, someone dies about every six weeks from an accident in the Bakken—at least 74 since 2006, according to the first comprehensive accounting of such deaths using data obtained from Canadian and US regulators. The number of deaths is likely higher because federal regulators don't have a systematic way to record oil- and gas-related deaths, and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn't include certain fatalities.
In response to Reveal's investigation, the federal agency pledged to step up enforcement against major oil companies and scrutinize speed bonuses in the Bakken, which some critics fear undermine safety.
READ MORE:http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/08/oil-field-deaths
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