Safe on the Slope: Occupational health services for the oilfield.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: Oil & Gas

Alaska's North Slope oilfields are a tough place to work. They're remote, hundreds of miles from the nearest fast food joint and movie theater. The weather is extreme, with wind chills sometimes nearing triple digits below zero. The job often requires working long shifts with heavy machinery, in tight quarters, or with hazardous chemicals--sometimes all of the above.

Oil companies and their contractors keep a close eye on the health and safety of their workers, who are required to undergo rigorous training and physical examinations before reporting for duty. A handful of companies in Alaska provide the training, health, and safety courses required. These range from a basic safety course required of all North Slope workers to physical exams to programs required by the federal government for workplace safety.

Prevention and Training

Prevention is key, says Michael Jesperson, senior vice president of Denali Occupational Health.

"It's the same in your own medical life," he says. "It's a whole lot easier to prevent or catch it young than to deal with the consequences."

While the field of occupational health isn't new, more companies are more open about what they require, he says. "Nowadays companies want their clients, prospective employees, [and] the regulators to know, 'Hey look, we are taking all these steps to make sure people are safe.'"

"We do some job-specific evaluations based on what a client's needs are," Jesperson says. "They give us exactly what a person is supposed to do and what standard they want to be held to and we'll do the testing and the physicals and verify if the candidate can do the work they want to do."

All North Slope oilfield companies and contractors have a zero tolerance policy for drugs, alcohol, firearms, and even knives at some facilities. There are no second chances, according to a North Slope fact sheet put out by the International Union of Operating Engineers.

Before they even set foot on the Slope, workers must complete a minimum of eight hours training and earn their North Slope Training Cooperative (NSTC) card. The NSTC came about via an agreement between North Slope field operators and their contractors to ensure that all employees have basic safety, health, and environmental policy knowledge before they go to work on the Slope.

The NSTC program is divided into six separate training modules that include safety awareness, general camp layout, and what to expect from exposures on the North Slope, says Mark Hylen, vice president of Beacon Occupational Health and Safety Services.

"It's not a competency training, but it is an awareness training," Hylen says. "The NSTC card is required as part of the badging process for all the workers on the North Slope."

After earning their card, workers can travel independently, or...