Oil rigs or any kind of apparatus constructed for the purpose of oil drilling. This can include land-based drilling rigs, drillships, and offshore oil platforms. However, there are plenty of explosion risks associated with oil rigs. Despite stringent federal and state regulations put in place to prevent serious accidents from occurring on an oil rig, we know that explosion incident still occur. Here, we want to discuss the steps that employers and oil rig workers can take to help maintain a safe environment and prevent serious explosions from occurring.

What Can Increase Safety on an Oil Rig?

Even though most people understand that there are significant risks involved with working on an oil rig, particularly an oil rig out on the open ocean, there are still various steps that can be taken to help ensure the safety of everyone involved. This includes steps that need to be taken by employers as well as safety steps that workers need to keep in mind at all times:

• Ensuring there are enough crew members on board
• Providing fire extinguishers that are accessible in all areas of the oil rig
• Ensuring there is a detailed emergency plan in place and training crew members on the plan’s implementation
• Providing enough safety gear, including rafts and lifejackets

Frequent and thorough inspections of the entire oil rig to ensure that all equipment is functioning properly
There really is no way to overdo training and inspections when it comes to oil rig safety. Even a small mechanical or procedural error aboard an oil rig can lead to major explosions. Particularly for oil rigs out on the gulf, the seawater and repetitive motion can quickly degrade many of the items that are key for safety on a rig.

Use Training and Proper Equipment to Prevent Explosions

Safety equipment can significantly minimize the harm that results from an explosion. Even though the main goal will be preventing an explosion from occurring in the first place, it is critical to help contain any possible fire or explosion that does occur. If an explosion is contained quickly, this can prevent the spread of a fire or a chain reaction of explosions from occurring.

Providing fire extinguishers in every area of an oil rig and training employees to properly use these fire extinguishers can help prevent smaller fires from becoming major fires. Additionally, oil rig employees need to know how to properly use all of the equipment that is a part of their daily work routine. When employees know how to operate oil rig machinery safely, they will be able to tell when there is a problem and will know how to react during an emergency or right after one occurs.

Evading Disaster by Knowing Evacuation Protocols

In the event an explosion does occur aboard an oil rig, it is crucial for employees to know the proper evacuation protocols and the lines of communication necessary to ensure that everybody gets off the oil rig safely. The last thing that needs to happen after a chaotic explosion is for there to be confusion amongst the crew members. Employers should regularly perform evacuation drills so that every person on board knows exactly what to do if an explosion or fire occurs.

At The Doan Law Firm, our oil rig explosions lawyers in Houston are dedicated to helping injured oilfield workers recover the compensation they and their families deserve after an accident. Contact us today to set a free consultation.