The state of Texas is home to rich deposits of oil and gas, and drilling for oil and gas has surged throughout the state in recent years. This is especially true of the Eagle Ford Shale, a 400 mile long and 50 mile wide site that produces oil and gas predominantly in south Texas but also stretches into the eastern part of the state. Over the last few years the Eagle Ford Shale has become the center of a boom of economic and employment activity in Texas.
But that oil and gas drilling production surge has also come at a significant cost, as oil drilling injuries and deaths have also surged at well sites and rigs throughout the state.
Oil and gas drilling related injuries and deaths can be gruesome, including:
- Steel cables slicing through workers
- Parts of drill rigs swinging free and striking workers
- High-pressured oil and gas sending metal hunks flying
- Pipes blowing up from too much pressure
- Well site blowouts
Unfortunately, as oil and gas drilling efforts have increased in recent years on the Eagle Ford Shale and throughout the whole state of Texas, these serious incidents continue to rise.
The surge of oil and gas drilling accidents in Texas has become a concern to both federal regulators and the industry as a whole. Safety projects like South Texas Exploration and Production Safety are designed to combat the rise of accidents on the Eagle Ford Shale. STEPS calls for all sizes of oil and gas drilling companies to meet every month with the federal safety agency OSHA. The idea is to get those companies to embrace regulators as partners to improve safety.
Source: Drilling’s Dangers: What Might Reduce Worker Deaths