2021 IADC ISP report shows rise in incidents and fatalities, highlights need to renew focus on safety
Global LTI rate jumps by 30.8% compared with 2020, while recordable incidence rate also up by 20.8% and number of fatalities increases to 7
The global drilling industry saw a deterioration in its safety performance in 2021, according to the newest Incident Statistics Program (ISP) report compiled by IADC and issued in June. Across the board – from lost-time incidents (LTIs) to recordables to fatalities – safety numbers slid backwards compared with 2020, highlighting a strong need for the industry to redouble its efforts around training, crew competency and building a resilient safety culture.
In 2021, the worldwide lost-time incidence rate increased by 30.8% to 0.17, compared with 0.13 in 2020. There was a smaller bump in the global recordables rate, which went up by 20.8% from 0.48 to 0.58. Perhaps most tellingly, the number of fatalities climbed from four in 2020 to seven in 2021. Four of those fatalities occurred in land operations, and the remaining three occurred in offshore operations.
Globally, the LTI and recordable rates for land were 0.23 and 0.79, respectively. Those rates for offshore were 0.09 and 0.31, respectively. A total of 234 LTIs and 842 recordable incidents were reported for both land and offshore operations combined.
The 2021 report encompasses data submitted by 73 contractors and represents a total of nearly 290 million manhours worked. That compares with 75 contractors and 287 million manhours worked in 2020. The IADC ISP report is calculated based on incidents per 200,000 manhours. DC
