As technology continues to advance, engineers and safety professionals are able to produce creative and ergonomic ways to access oil and gas reserves.

This process has greatly expanded the oil and gas industry. As the oil and gas industry continues to expand, keeping oil and gas workers safe must be a high priority.

The oil and gas industry is very dangerous because workers are often exposed to chemical, physical, and biological hazards, such as toxics, extreme temperatures, and bacteria. In addition, workers are also exposed to contact injuries, fires and explosions, falls, and confined spaces.

Regardless of whether the operation is offshore or onshore, working at height is a significant hazard on oil and gas facilities. Due to the nature of the environment, there should be special consideration taken determining of performance criteria and specification of fall protection systems and appropriate PPE to meet the unique risk factors contributing the risk profile.

Whether requiring fall protection to carry out general maintenance, rig up and rig down activities, servicing the pipe racks or ascending/descending the derrick ladder, there are a suitable fall protection solution available.

Engineered systems solutions like vertical, horizontal and overhead fall protection systems can be designed to follow the often complex contours found on rigs, pipe racks, flare stacks, derrick ladders and gantries and have proven reliability in even the harshest climatic and environmental conditions.

Fall hazards unique to these industries include:

• Rigging up and rigging down
• Minimal fall clearance for low applications like pipe racks
• Fall arrest equipment appropriate for welding jobs
• SRL entanglement in moving machinery parts
• Swing falls and collisions with other equipment
• Improper use of material-rated lifts to move people
• Working at height when a fire breaks out
• Working near the hole left by draw-works