Report shows improvement in oil industry's safety record

WASHINGTON -- The oil industry's safety record has slightly improved, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Fewer injuries were reported in such sectors as exploration, drilling, refining and transportation.

For every 10,000 workers, 195 injuries -- ranging from minor cuts to respiratory illnesses -- were reported in 1997. A year earlier the figure was 213, said a study of the institute, the oil industry's trade group in Washington.

The API received data from 139 oil companies with 231,332 workers, or 92 percent of all the employees in the industry. "These numbers only go to show how committed the companies are in providing a safe workplace for their employees," said Ken Leonard, director of safety and fire protection at the API. "The figures are exceedingly good." The study said the industry's safety record has greatly improved since 1986, cutting the overall number of reported injuries in half over the last 12 years. Since 1986, the rate of injuries plummeted 71 percent in manufacturing, 66 percent in refining, 58 percent in pipeline operations and 51 percent in exploration, according to the report. Industry workers face hazards ranging from slippery floors to toxic chemicals, and their injuries range from bruises to lung disease leading to death, said Frank Kean, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a Labor Department agency. Kean added that the industry has been "exceptional" in decreasing the hazards for its workers. Leonard attributed much of the injury decline to companies' efforts to increase education and training programs for their workers.

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