A recent post made the claim that the oil and gas industry was unsafe for workers. The source for the claim was a discredited film maker and his latest film. A film full of innuendo, hyperbole, and misinformation. What was missing from the film was fact based information.

Here are the true stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Workers in the oil and gas industry are safer from fatal accidents than those employed in construction, transportation, warehousing, agriculture, forestry, government, professional & business services, manufacturing, retail, leisure, hospitality,, wholesale, education, health services and the list continues. You get the point.

All of those industries had more fatal injuries than the oil and gas industry for 2014.

For non-fatal industries the statistics are similar. The rate for non-fatal injuries in the oil and gas industry was 1.3 injuries per 100 workers. The national average was 3.5 injuries per 100 workers. (for 2013). Bartenders report more injuries than do oil and gas workers.

Further, the number of work place injuries in the oil and gas industry is declining. And at the same time employment in the industry is rising. The reason for this is that the oil and gas industry has partnered with several government and private agencies to develop work safety program.

Certainly no amount of injury in the workplace is acceptable. But to claim that the oil and gas industry in more dangerous than any other industry is a lie.

Another fractivist lie vanquished.