Safety on the oil patch: training and awareness are keys to safety on the North Slope: safety equipment is vital to survival at most jobs on the North Slope. Gear like safety belts, helmets and respirator masks are often critical for survival.

• Author: Martin, Gary L.

Industrial safety, especially on Alaska's oil fields, is a very serious business. If it is not a way of life, it call easily become a way of death or injury for the men and women who labor in those dangerous environments.

They live and work, day-in and day-out, in the shadow of life and limb-threatening conditions, including hazardous machinery perilous weather conditions, toxic chemicals and even deadly wildlife, like the bears.

WHO CARES?

Working and living on the North Slope became such a safety concern that BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Conoco-Phillips Alaska Inc. and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. teamed up in 2002 to produce the Alaska Safety Handbook for their employees, including contractors who are hired to do special projects.

Their goal was to: "Provide each of our employees and contractors a single set of safety rules and insisting on uniform application of the safety procedures and standards."

BP is one of the companies on the North Slope that puts safety, both for its employees and the environment, at the top of its corporate priority list. It is an issue of great concern throughout the chain of command, from the newest employee on the Slope in Alaska to the highest paid levels of management.

WHAT CAN HAPPEN

"When you think of the complete process (to obtain oil), there is a lot of room for potential hazards to our workers," said Don Enslow, senior safety consultant for BP Exploration in Alaska. "First you have to drill between 7,000 to 10,000 feet into the ground to reach the oil. Then you need heavy pipe and structures to hold that pipe and people to handle the equipment. Don't forget, this is all being done in extreme weather conditions.

"Once the oil is reached, it must be prepared for transport through the pipeline to Valdez for distribution.

"To do that we have to remove some of the water and gas. And that requires a lot of piping and process equipment that also requires maintenance. This stuff also takes place in hazardous environments."

Oil field work again is manpower-intensive, requiring a lot of lifting and exposure to chemicals. If not properly trained, it can lead to injuries like cuts, broken bones, strains, frostbite and hearing loss.

Occupational illnesses are also a factor; for example, workers can become very ill or even die from overexposure from toxic chemicals or fumes.

A PROUD RECORD

From 1992 to 2003, there have been dramatic improvements in BP's reportable injury record. At its highest mark (1993 to...