We promote a lot of numbers here that are connected with the oil and natural gas industry’s performance – including industry’s ability to deliver energy to America while creating jobs and forward impetus for the economy.

Here’s another number worth noting, a small number for which our industry is both pleased and thankful: 2.3 – the number of job-related nonfatal injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers reported in 2011. The number reflects the oil and natural gas industry’s commitment to safe and healthy working conditions. More to the point, it reflects safer and healthier workers.

Indeed, Industry’s incidence rate in 2011 surpassed the U.S. private sector as a whole (3.5 per 100 full-time workers), as it has every year of this report, charted below:

As you can also see, industry’s rate has dropped each year since 2005. Working conditions in all aspects of the industry have gotten better. Other highlights:

• The rate for the exploration and development end of the industry was 1.6 for 2011, compared to 2.2 for the mining sector as a whole.
• The rate for the refining part of our industry was 1.1 for 2011, which is just a quarter of the rate for the manufacturing sector as a whole (4.4 per 100 workers).
• The pipeline part of the industry rounded to a 0.0 rate for 2011, compared to 5.0 for the transportation sector as a whole.

Here’s a chart showing these and other comparisons with similar industrial activities:

The report is based on information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement and the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Full-time workers for the purposes of this report equal those working 40 hours per week for 50 weeks a year or 2,000 hours per year. The report measures only injuries and illnesses because the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers fatalities too rare to indicate or measure the relative safety of an industry.  For this report a job-related injury or illness is an abnormal condition or disorder that results in days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, medical treatment beyond first aid or loss of consciousness.