Did you know as drilling increases, so do deaths—with deaths rising by 28% in one year? Working on oil rigs and platforms can have an increased risk for workplace injury and can be harmful to the surrounding environment.
An oil rig fire or explosion can happen and does happen in this field. Keep reading, and we will guide you through the common causes of drilling rig accidents.
Dangers of Working in the Oil Rigs
Oil rigs can be a dangerous place to work because you are drilling into flammable materials.
You want to make sure you are providing the best industrial machinery to keep your crew safe from brakes and clutches to the large cranes and vessels. Equipment failure is a common accident that happens.
The crew can take precautions, but some accidents are inevitable in this field.
Explosions, fires, and blowouts are other accidents that can happen on-site and are very harmful and dangerous.
Common Causes of Drilling Rig Accidents
We will walk you through the common causes of explosions, fires, blowouts, and equipment failure in oil rigs.
These accidents happen often, and you want to take as many precautions as possible because they can be deadly.
1. Equipment Failure
Maintaining your equipment in the oil field is essential. The fields rely on massive and sophisticated machines to operate correctly. If you don’t maintain your equipment, pipes and valves can be destroyed, and machines may malfunction or multiple other issues.
There can be accidents while working on or with the machine if it’s not working correctly. Kor-Pak Corporation provides overhead crane inspections that you should do routinely to ensure a safer work environment.
2. Blowout
Blowouts are when oil or gas erupts from the well. The system monitoring the pressure has stopped working when this occurs. A blowout can cause a fire or explosion.
3. Explosions
Extreme pressures from burning vapors cause explosions. When the pressure is too much, the top of the container can come off. Pressure systems are put in place to prevent this, but sometimes they don’t work.
4. Fires
Oil well fires occur when pressurized gas erupts from the well and comes into contact with sparks. The fire is hard to put out because of the large volume of fuel. Burn injuries can be severe because of the size of the fire.
Environmental Effects
One example of an oil spill is in 2010. The Gulf of Mexico was the victim of 210 million gallons of oil. It was called the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
This spill was damaging to the fish and marine life because the oil is poison to them. Beaches, fisheries, and coastal communities that were along the Gulf also faced damage and had to be shut down.
The oceanic environment and eco-system are still facing the consequences today.
Take Precautions and Keep Employees Safe
If you are managing an oil rig, or are a part of the crew, be aware of the drilling rig accidents.
Take any precautions for explosions, fires, blowouts, or equipment failure that you can to be safe.
Kor-Pak corporation can help with your oil machinery needs. Check out our brake repair and reline services and machine inspections today.