The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will hold the 2014 edition of its biennial Oil & Gas Safety and Health Conference on December 2-3 in Houston. Regulators and industry insiders will come together to discuss safety improvements "through cooperation, best practices, knowledge sharing and relationship building."

Assistant Secretary of Labor David Michaels, the head of OSHA, and John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), will both be in attendance. Also taking part will be celebrated motivational speaker Dan Clark, National Safety Council president Deborah Hersman, former Army Ranger Keni Thomas and six-time Space Shuttle astronaut Jim Wetherbee, among others.

The conference is especially timely because the North American oil and gas industries are currently at the center of some major debates, especially regarding transportation. Recent times have seen extractors tap into new sources in regions that are not traditional producers. Oil from the Bakken formation in Montana, North Dakota and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan is one such product.

Bakken oil is heavier and more volatile than other types of North American crude, which has led to concerns over its transportation by rail through populated areas. On the other hand, existing pipelines are not always suitable to carry Bakken oil. The proposed expansion of the Keystone Pipeline, which was recently rejected in the Senate for environmental reasons, would add Bakken to the dilbit and synthetic crude currently being transported.

Safety Advantage, based just outside Houston in Channelview, Texas, provides oilfield and pipeline safety training carried out by certified professionals who teach workers to identify and prevent hazardous situations.

The economic recovery is bringing a boom in construction projects across the United States and abroad. This is good news for the industry, but the figures suggest that the availability of skilled workers is not growing at the same pace. The industry lost laborers during the recession, and their number has not fully recovered. This is leading to safety concerns because of the risk of bringing on less experienced workers.

Construction and insurance companies are pushing for greater adoption of safety training programs. Speaking to Business Insurance, several experts stressed the importance of adequate leadership to ensure workers' well-being. The construction industry has improved its safety record significantly over the past few years thanks to the adoption of better physical protective measures at building sites, but if a company's higher-ups don't stress preventative action, real results will be hard to come by.

Industry insiders also believe that subcontractors are often not engaged enough in a project's overall safety strategy. Risk managers should meet with subcontractors face to face and supervisors should spend more time on site to meet with workers and ensure that they are aware of safety practices and have the experience to follow them.

"Safety should flow from the bottom up because workers are the ones getting hurt," said Clune Construction Company risk manager Frank Keres to Business Insurance. "You should be listening to your employees, not just your owner and insurance people."

Behavior based safety programs are a simple and effective way to prevent worksite injuries. Certified professionals can teach workers and supervisors to adopt practices that reduce the risk of injury during construction projects.

Federal regulators are working to update rules on pipeline safety in light of the changing landscape of the United States' oil industry. Over the coming months, pipeline operators will incur potentially significant costs in order to meet the new regulations, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has proposed a system whereby they could recover some of that expenditure.

Under FERC's policy proposal, qualified operators could add a surcharge to their base rates, to be paid by the companies that use their pipelines. Assessment will be on a case-by-case basis, affecting single pipelines and not all of a company's operations. In order to qualify, a pipeline must meet five requirements laid out by FERC:

• An updated base rate review to ensure that costs are adequate.
• Only modifications to comply with safety or environmental regulations will be included, and operators must detail them.
• Operators will not be able to modify customers' rates if the pipeline's throughput changes as a result of the upgrades.
• The pipeline will be reviewed periodically to ensure that the rates and surcharge remain reasonable.
• Operators must work with shippers to plan modernization projects.

FERC is basing its proposal on an agreement reached between NiSource and its customers, by which the base rate of the Columbia Gas Transmission from Louisiana to New York was reduced by $60 million in exchange for the shippers covering the cost of a modernization tracker. FERC has opened a 30-day period for industry insiders to submit comments to the proposal.

Beyond physical upgrades, pipeline safety training can go a long way toward preventing accidents. Pipeline workers can obtain operator qualification certifications in compliance with Department of Transportation regulations.

Pipeline safety is a hot topic these days, as proponents and opponents of the fourth phase of the Keystone Pipeline, known as Keystone XL, face off in Congress. That debate is extending to several regions where pipelines are under construction or in the planning stages. The North American oil market, and especially the transportation sector, are undergoing significant changes as companies are extracting new types of oil.

The market for Bakken crude and oil sands, which are heavier and potentially more volatile than other types, is up. This, combined with the public struggle over Keystone XL, has raised public awareness and led to more local efforts to increase safety or stop projects entirely.

In Minnesota, state authorities have delayed the construction of a new line by Enbridge, a company that was involved in the Kalamazoo River oil spill four years ago, the largest inland spill in U.S. history. Residents along the route of the proposed PennEast Pipeline are also questioning the safety of building a pipeline through farmland where sinkholes could form.

Meanwhile, the pipeline safety market is reaping the benefits of this increased focus. Research firm MarketsAndMarkets says that the global market for physical and IT safety measures and professional services such as pipeline safety training will reach $6.73 billion by 2018. The report projects a compound annual growth rate of 9.1 percent. North America leads global investment, which is being driven primarily by stricter government regulations.

Safety Advantage offers official pipeline safety operator qualification assessments and training classes. Click here for more information on our pipeline safety options.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued an advisory to the industry warning that reversing a pipeline's flow or changing the product it carries can lead to degradation and heighten the possibility of failure. PHMSA's report comes as a reaction to an increase in these practices, which may have contributed to at least two incidents last year.

On March 29, an ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, spilling 5,000-7,000 barrels of oil sands from the Wabasca oil field in Alberta. In October, a leak was discovered in a Tesoro pipe in Tioga, North Dakota, and authorities believe it could take two to three years to clean up the oil. In both cases, the pipelines had been reversed, and PHMSA believes that exacerbated existing corrosion and cracking.

PHMSA has not issued any new regulations, but has made recommendations to pipeline operators on what integrity tests to conduct before reversing the flow. The most common is a hydrostatic test, which involves filling the pipeline with water to observe whether there is any loss of pressure which would signal a leak.

In most cases, a flow reversal changes the pipeline's contents. In the Mayflower case, it was switched to Canadian oil sands, which are heavier than the crude it carried before. The presence of oil sands in North American pipelines is fairly recent and growing fast, often in pipes that were designed for lighter oils. Changes in flow and content are up amid uncertainty over the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Pipeline safety training helps reduce the risk of accidents and ensure compliance with Department of Transportation and PHMSA regulations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will wind down the calendar year with meetings of several of its advisory committees. As this blog reported earlier this month, the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) will convene on December 3-4 with eight as-yet unnamed new members. Last week, the Labor Department announced the names of four new members for the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH).

NACOSH will meet on December 10 at the Frances Perkins Building in Washington, D.C., the headquarters of the Labor Department. Secretary Thomas Perez renewed the Committee's charter last month for a two-year period. NACOSH advises both Perez and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on matters of compliance, enforcement, regulation and research.

The meeting will be open to the public and will include National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) director John Howard and Assistant Secretary of Labor David Michaels, the head of OSHA. Among the items on the agenda are Ebola prevention, which falls partly under OSHA's purview, chemical management and the protection of temporary workers.

The four new members are Lisa Brosseau of the University of Illinois at Chicago as a representative of the public, Lamont Byrd of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for workers, Rick Ingram of BP for employers and Jessica Martinez of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health for safety professionals.

With representatives from all involved parties, NACOSH helps shape OSHA regulations to ensure the safety and well-being of workers in high-risk industries.

Many Latin American immigrants to the United States work in jobs that are considered high risk, such as in construction or oil production. Last week, the Department of Labor renewed its efforts to ensure that immigrants have access to the same expectation of safety and workers' rights as their North American counterparts. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez extended partnership agreements at a signing ceremony with the ambassadors from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Nicaragua.

The agreements apply specifically to two of the Department's agencies, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), which will collaborate with embassies and consulates to provide information on U.S. labor laws regarding workplace safety, wages and working hours. These laws extend to workers who are in the country on temporary labor visas, such as for agricultural work.

Besides expanding workers' rights, these partnerships make it easier for federal agencies to enforce labor laws in high-risk or low-wage jobs, where violations are most common. Secretary Perez reaffirmed the need to guarantee fair wages and a safe workplace to all workers in the U.S., regardless of origin.

"The Department of Labor has shown a very credible concern for the underprivileged foreign workers," said Dominican ambassador Aníbal de Castro.

"We are satisfied with the results obtained over the last three years and are grateful for the opportunity to continue this close cooperation on an issue of mutual interest," added his Nicaraguan counterpart, Francisco Campbell.

Construction site safety programs help ensure the well-being of all workers through training and providing information on safe worksite practices.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has granted a request from the American Composites Manufacturers Association, National Association of Manufacturers, three American branches of international unions and four other minor trade associations to waive a June 1 deadline for adoption of chemical labeling standards.

The United Nations' Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) will be implemented on that date in the United States as well as in Brazil, Canada and the European Union. Adhesive and sealant manufacturers did not expect to be ready by June and requested a reprieve from OSHA, whose responsibility it is to enforce the standard in the U.S.

The Administration agreed, but companies will have to prove that they are doing their due diligence to achieve compliance as soon as possible. OSHA will issue a compliance directive and enforcement policy under which formulators will be able to avoid penalties.

The manufacturing associations argued that they should not be expected to meet the same deadline as chemical suppliers, since they have to obtain information from the suppliers that will allow them to develop their material safety data sheets and revise their labels.

"Suppliers work at their own pace," said Adhesive and Sealant Council director of regulatory affairs Mark Collatz. "The situation is different for our members when they try to get all the information they need."

The Administration and the trade unions will meet over the next few months to discuss the development of the OSHA regulations that will be in effect until such time as the UN's requirements are definitively implemented.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined two Texas companies a total of $93,800 for exposing their workers to hazards around dangerous machinery. The employees ran the risk of electrical shock and of being struck by unguarded equipment.

Spradling Drilling of Borger failed to adequately guard rotating machinery at a drilling site in Channing. Electrical wiring was improperly repaired and uncovered, and workers were exposed to fall hazards on stairwells that were missing handrails and metal stair treading. OSHA also cited Spradling for health violations for not providing emergency showers or training to employees who were exposed to hydrogen sulfide and sodium carbonate. Spradling was fined $46,200.

"The employer is endangering employees by not eliminating safety and health hazards at its drilling rig site, exposing workers to potential injuries or even death," said OSHA's Lubbock area director, Elizabeth Linda Routh. "Oil and gas operators have access to OSHA's many tools and resources to help them stay in compliance and protect employees from hazardous conditions."

OSHA also fined TST Inc., an aluminum processing company in Sweetwater, $47,600 for failing to guard or secure chains and sprockets, compressed gas cylinders, electrical circuits and grinders, and for not repairing damaged welding cables. The Lubbock office inspected TST as part of its Site-Specific Targeting Program for industries with high injury rates.

Behavior based safety programs reduce the risk of worksite injuries. Both supervisors and workers need to know how to identify potential hazards and take adequate measures to avoid dangerous situations.

Holder Construction of Atlanta has entered a partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure worker safety during the construction of a data center in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The Illinois Department of Labor and eight local unions are also participating to help guarantee the partnership's success.

The principal aim of the agreement is to educate workers on identifying and preventing construction hazards, specifically caught-in, electrical, fall and struck-by hazards which can occur during a project of this magnitude and are the lead cause of fatalities and injuries at construction sites. The organizations will work together to develop written materials that are specific to this site.

"Our focus is to forge a working relationship that will prevent serious workplace construction hazards and establish a foundation for the development of an effective safety and health program at the site," said OSHA's Chicago North area director, Angie Loftus.

Last November, Washington, D.C.-based data center provider DuPont Fabros purchased 15 acres of land for the construction of a 334,000-square-foot center, CH2, adjacent to its existing CH1 facility. Twelve subcontractors are involved, employing up to 400 tradesmen. The project is scheduled to run through late next year.

Through the Strategic Partnership Program, OSHA works with contractors to guarantee construction site safety and promote training at work sites. For Holder, this is the second partnership in under two months. As this blog reported at the time, the company already joined forces with the Administration for the construction of another data center in Omaha, Nebraska, for The Travelers Companies, scheduled to conclude in September.