2014 IADC ISP report shows global LTI rate fell by 11.5%, recordables rate down by 7.4%

21 fatalities were reported by 107 participating contractors

By Kelli Ainsworth, Editorial Coordinator

The global drilling industry saw declines in both its lost-time incidence (LTI) rate and recordable incidence rate last year, according to the 2014 IADC Incident Statistics Program (ISP) annual report. The global LTI rate declined by 11.5% compared with 2013, going from 0.26 to 0.23. The 2014 rate for recordable incidents fell by 7.4% from 0.81 to 0.75. A total of 21 fatalities were reported for 2014, one fewer than the previous year.

IADC’s annual ISP report is compiled from data voluntarily submitted by drilling contractors. During 2014, 107 contractors participated in the ISP, representing a total of 601 million manhours worked. Overall, contractors reported 2,264 recordable incidents, 663 LTIs and 21 fatalities. Rates are calculated based on incidents per 200,000 manhours.

Fatalities

Employees with more than one but less than five years of service with the company accounted for seven fatalities. Four fatalities occurred among employees who had between six months and one year of service, while three victims had less than three

months of service. Among more experienced employees, three of the victims had been with the company for between five and 10 years and three had been with the company for 10 years or more.

Six fatalities occurred while tripping in or out, while four occurred during rig and equipment maintenance activities. Eight of the incidents were struck-by incidents, while five were caught-between incidents. Four of the fatalities occurred among motormen, and three fatalities occurred among floormen.

Summaries by region

Europe

European land and offshore operations accounted for more than 89.13 million manhours in 2014. Offshore contractors in this region worked 39.3 million manhours, with no fatalities. Their LTI rate improved by 29.6% from 0.27 in 2013 to 0.19 in 2014. The recordable rate for European offshore also went down, dropping by 14% from 0.85 in 2013 to 0.73 in 2014.

Onshore contractors worked 49.83 million manhours with one fatality. The LTI rate for 2014 fell by 29.4% from 0.34 to 0.24. Recordable rates saw similar improvement, sliding 27.1% from a 2013 rate of 0.48 to 0.35 in 2014.

United States

The region’s offshore and onshore contractors together logged 144.58 million manhours with 10 fatalities. US onshore accounted for 103.73 million manhours and all 10 of the region’s fatalities. The lost-time incidence rate for US onshore contractors improved by 19.6%, going from 0.51 in 2013 to 0.41 in 2014.  The recordable incidence rate showed slight improvement, dropping by 2.5% from 1.58 in 2013 to 1.54 in 2014.

On the offshore side, the contractors worked 41.12 million manhours without any fatalities. The LTI rate decreased by 6.7% from 0.15 in 2013 to 0.14 in 2014. The recordable incidence rate for US offshore workers improved by 17.9%, from 0.78 in 2013 to 0.64 in 2014.

Canada

Canadian contractors worked a total of 4.17 million manhours with one fatality.

Onshore contractors accounted for 2.74 million manhours and one fatality. The LTI rate for Canadian onshore contractors showed a 52.5% improvement in the LTI rate, down from 0.61 in 2013 to 0.29 for 2014. However, the recordable incidence rate worsened, increasing by 17.7% from 1.98 in 2013 to 2.33 for 2014.

The region’s offshore contractors worked 1.43 million manhours and had no fatalities.  There were no LTIs for the second year in a row. The recordable rates, however, went up by 191.7%, going from 0.24 in 2013 to 0.70 in 2014.

Central America and the Caribbean

The region’s contractors together worked 15.49 million manhours and reported two fatalities. Onshore operations accounted for 8.35 million manhours and no fatalities. The LTI rate for the region’s onshore operations increased by 59.3% from 0.27 for 2013 to 0.43 for 2014. The recordable incidence rate also worsened slightly, increasing by 1.56% from 0.64 in 2013 to 0.65 in 2014.

Offshore, Central American and Caribbean contractors logged 7.14 million manhours with two reported fatalities. Offshore LTI and recordable rates both worsened, with the former rising by 54.5% from 0.22 in 2013 to 0.34 in 2014, while the latter rose by 66.7% from 0.54 in 2013 to 0.90 in 2014.

Africa

African land and offshore contractors worked a total of 74.58 million manhours with two fatalities. Offshore contractors accounted for 32.5 million manhours and one fatality. The 2013 LTI rate of 0.16 went up by 12.5% to a rate of 0.18 for 2014. Following a similar trend, recordable incidents also rose, increasing by 25% from 0.52 in 2013 to 0.65 in 2014.

Onshore contractors in the region reported 42.08 million manhours and had one fatality. The LTI rate for African onshore contractors improved by 15.8%, from 0.38 in 2013 to 0.32 in 2014. The recordables rate fell slightly from 1.07 in 2013 to 1.04 in 2014, a decrease of 2.8%.

Middle East

Overall, the region’s contractors worked a logged 136.54 million manhours with no fatalities. Onshore contractors had 98.53 million manhours without any fatalities. There was no change in the LTI rate, which held steady at 0.14, while the recordable incidence rate improved by 16.9% from 0.65 in 2013 to 0.54 in 2014.

Offshore drilling contractors worked 38.01 million manhours with no fatalities. The LTI rate remained at 0.08. However, the recordable incidence rate rose by 20.7% from 0.29 in 2013 to 0.35 in 2014.

Asia Pacific

Drilling contractors in the Asia Pacific region worked a total of 74.93 million manhours and had three fatalities. Offshore contractors accounted for 51.99 million manhours and three fatalities. There was no change to the LTI rate, which remained at 0.15, while the recordable incidence rate showed a 25.9% improvement, dropping from 0.54 in 2013 to 0.40 in 2014.

On the onshore side, contractors logged 22.94 million manhours with no fatalities. However, the LTI rate worsened by 9.1%, rising slightly from 0.22 in 2013 to 0.24 in 2014. The recordable incident rate, however, improved by 52% from a 2013 rate of 0.94 to a 2014 rate of 0.45.

South America

Contractors in this region worked 52.3 million manhours. Land contractors accounted for 31.97 million manhours with no fatalities. The 2013 LTI rate of 0.16 rose by 18.8% to 0.19 in 2014. The recordables rate rose by 5.9% from a 2013 rate of 0.51 to 0.54 in 2014. Offshore contractors had 20.32 million manhours with two fatalities. LTI rates were down by 3.7%, from 0.27 to 0.26. The recordables rate fell by 18.2% from 0.66 to 0.54.

Australasia

This was the first year Australasia has had its own category within the ISP. Drilling contractors here worked 9.28 million manhours without any fatalities. Land contractors worked 6 million manhours with a 2014 LTI rate of 0.23 and recordable rate of 1.37. Offshore contractors worked 3.28 million manhours, with an LTI rate of 0.06 and a recordable rate of 0.61.