Oil And Gas Worker Fatalities Down In 2013

In 2013, 4,405 Americans died from workplace injuries, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And 112 – or 2.5 percent – of them worked in the oil and gas industry in jobs like drilling and servicing wells, operating equipment, and machining parts. This represents a decrease in fatalities from last year, when 142 oil and gas workers died. In the past decade, fatalities have risen along with the oil and gas boom in the U.S.:

But in 2013, the number of fatalities decreased, even though the number of oil and gas workers continued to grow. And, with the exception of 2009 when the boom slowed due to the recession, 2013 represents the lowest fatality rate (deaths per 100,000 workers) in the past decade:

How does oil and gas compare to other industries?

Saltwater Spills In North Dakota: Data Woes And Wins

As oil booms in North Dakota, the rate of spills has been growing, Emily Guerin reported. Thousands of barrels of oil spill each year, but something more dangerous comes with it: saltwater. A by-product of oil extraction, saltwater can destroy farmland for years. Finding detailed data on saltwater spills – more than 800 happened in North Dakota in the past year – was hard. Really hard.