Background: Occupational fatality rates among oil and gas extraction industry and specifically among drilling contractor workers are high compared to the U.S. all-industry average. There is scant literature focused on non-fatal injuries among drilling contractors, some of which have introduced engineering controls to improve rig efficiency and reduce injury risk.
Methods: We compared injury rates on new and old technology rigs operated by the largest U.S. drilling contractor during 2003-2012, stratifying by job type and grouping outcomes by injury severity and body part affected.
Results: Six hundred seventy-one injuries were recorded over 77.4 million person-hours. The rate on new rigs was 66% of that on old rigs. Roughnecks had lower injury rates on new rigs, largely through reduced limb injury rates. New rigs had lower rates in each non-fatal injury severity category.
Conclusions: For this company, new technology rigs appear to provide a safer environment for roughnecks. Future studies could include data from additional companies.
Keywords: domestic energy; drilling contractors; engineering controls; occupational injuries; oil and gas extraction.
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.