Dangers of oil drilling jobs
Are oil drilling jobs dangerous? The short answer is yes, very dangerous.
Typical jobs found on an oil drilling platform include the tool pusher, motorman, roustabout, roughneck and mudman. Each of these jobs has critical features which makes oil drilling jobs dangerous.
General features of the work and the environment mean an overall danger factor to the field of work. For instance, the noise level is high and unrelenting. As long as the rig motor is running, spoken—even shouted words cannot be heard above the level of the motor noise. Workers must communicate by hand signals, and there is always the danger of a sudden emergency hand signal not being seen by a worker for whom it is intended. In addition, high constant levels of sound may result in hearing loss for the workers who are exposed.
The environment is another constant factor which makes oil drilling jobs dangerous.
For drilling sites on land, the exposure to the elements can range from below zero temperatures to searing desert heat as well as locations which have very high heat and humidity. Tornadoes are a risk in some land sites. For the off-shore drilling sites, again there is the risk of icy cold winds, sweeping across an exposed work site, with constant moisture and biting cold. Frostbite and hypothermia makes oil drilling jobs dangerous on some of the North Sea drilling platforms. In the Gulf of Mexico, it's obviously warmer water, but the risk of hurricanes is very real during hurricane season. During the recent disastrous Katrina season, some drilling platforms were damaged, others shut down during the duration of the storm.
In addition to these general dangers for oil drilling jobs, there are dangers specific to certain jobs. For example, the roughneck work is not only done under the noise and environmental conditions described above, but the job calls for extremely dirty and physically demanding work. It is the job of the roughneck to see to it that tools and equipment are ready for use as and where needed on the platform. They must make sure the working space is clean and free of dangerous obstacles. They spend time scraping the never ending rust build-up and painting exposed metal to protect the surfaces. The constant movement of heavy pieces of equipment such as crane riggings, pipes and drill pieces in the working area makes oil drilling jobs dangerous in a special sense for the roughneck.
To some extent, there is another factor which makes oil drilling jobs dangerous. Any time you put a group of people in close quarters under stressful conditions the psychological pressures can build to dangerous levels. The pay for oil drilling personnel is excellent and the accommodations are clean and well-appointed; food and travel costs are generally borne by the company and the time-off after each 14 day rotation amounts to 21 days, but the stress of the conditions and the work can cause dangerous lapses of concentration which lead to accidents. Company people work very hard to prevent or reduce these dangerous situations where ever possible in order to make the oil drilling jobs safer.
Typical jobs found on an oil drilling platform include the tool pusher, motorman, roustabout, roughneck and mudman. Each of these jobs has critical features which makes oil drilling jobs dangerous.
General features of the work and the environment mean an overall danger factor to the field of work. For instance, the noise level is high and unrelenting. As long as the rig motor is running, spoken—even shouted words cannot be heard above the level of the motor noise. Workers must communicate by hand signals, and there is always the danger of a sudden emergency hand signal not being seen by a worker for whom it is intended. In addition, high constant levels of sound may result in hearing loss for the workers who are exposed.
The environment is another constant factor which makes oil drilling jobs dangerous.
For drilling sites on land, the exposure to the elements can range from below zero temperatures to searing desert heat as well as locations which have very high heat and humidity. Tornadoes are a risk in some land sites. For the off-shore drilling sites, again there is the risk of icy cold winds, sweeping across an exposed work site, with constant moisture and biting cold. Frostbite and hypothermia makes oil drilling jobs dangerous on some of the North Sea drilling platforms. In the Gulf of Mexico, it's obviously warmer water, but the risk of hurricanes is very real during hurricane season. During the recent disastrous Katrina season, some drilling platforms were damaged, others shut down during the duration of the storm.
In addition to these general dangers for oil drilling jobs, there are dangers specific to certain jobs. For example, the roughneck work is not only done under the noise and environmental conditions described above, but the job calls for extremely dirty and physically demanding work. It is the job of the roughneck to see to it that tools and equipment are ready for use as and where needed on the platform. They must make sure the working space is clean and free of dangerous obstacles. They spend time scraping the never ending rust build-up and painting exposed metal to protect the surfaces. The constant movement of heavy pieces of equipment such as crane riggings, pipes and drill pieces in the working area makes oil drilling jobs dangerous in a special sense for the roughneck.
To some extent, there is another factor which makes oil drilling jobs dangerous. Any time you put a group of people in close quarters under stressful conditions the psychological pressures can build to dangerous levels. The pay for oil drilling personnel is excellent and the accommodations are clean and well-appointed; food and travel costs are generally borne by the company and the time-off after each 14 day rotation amounts to 21 days, but the stress of the conditions and the work can cause dangerous lapses of concentration which lead to accidents. Company people work very hard to prevent or reduce these dangerous situations where ever possible in order to make the oil drilling jobs safer.
