WASHINGTON, December 21, 2012 – A new API report shows that operational injuries and illness for the oil and natural gas industry occur at a rate substantially below the private sector average. The Workplace Safety Report also shows the oil and gas industry rate has been steadily declining.

“We take these matters very seriously and we are proud to see our performance is improving,” Hazem Arafa, director of API’s statistics department, said of the report. “Our first priority is the safety of our workers. We are committed to building on this progress.”

The report shows that:

• The 2011 industry rate was 2.3 incidents per 100 full-time workers versus 3.5 incidents for all of the private sector.
• The industry has decreased its incident rate by 7% since 2010 (and 35% since 2003). The private sector’s rate remained unchanged from 2010 and decreased by 30% since 2003.
• The 2011 rate for upstream is 1.6 (offshore is 0.8) compared to 2.2 for mining as a whole.
• The 2011 rate for refining is 1.1, exactly 25% of the rate for manufacturing as a whole (4.4).
• Pipelines are an extremely safe way to transport oil and oil products. The pipeline rate rounds to 0.0 for almost every year, compared to the 2011 rate of 5.0 for the transportation sector as a whole.

The report is based on information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement and the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

API is a national trade association that represents all segments of America’s technology-driven oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 500 members – including large integrated companies, exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms – provide most of the nation’s energy. The industry also supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested over $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.