HSE Alert

Deadly Mystery: What's causing sudden deaths of oil

field workers?
Something has been causing oil field workers to mysteriously drop dead while on the job. The
victims, some as young as 20, were working alone when they died. Researchers now think they
may know what's been killing them.
Those deaths have now been linked to a task those workers were performing: climbing up on top of
storage tanks measure or sample the oil or gas condensate inside. Some of the men were found
slumped over the tank hatch or laying at the base of the tank.
63-year-old, Jimmy Dale Deweber, worked for 20 years as a truck driver picking up loads of oil and
gas condensate from storage tanks. Often he would have to "thief" the tank first, opening up what's
called the "thief hatch" on top and lowering a small container down into the tank to grab a sample.
In the industry it's called manual gauging.
"So he would be working over this hole at the top of the tank to get this thief down and then pull it,
wind it back up,"

Researchers working for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are currently
examining Deweber's case. They've already linked nine other deaths in the past five years to
toxic vapors workers were exposed to during manual gauging and transfer operations.
"The common factor was that all had opened up the tank hatches. They had instantly been
overcome by the toxic chemical vapors," says Dr. Robert Harrison of UC San Francisco, the lead
researcher on the study.
51-year-old Joe Ray Sherman died at an oil field in Colorado. Sherman was found hanging from
the catwalk guardrail by his clothing.
An autopsy also ruled Sherman's death natural due to heart disease, but researchers
suspect otherwise.
"It's quite possible that in some cases the medical examiners and coroners may initially suspect
sudden heart attack but in fact the death is caused acutely by these toxic vapors that cause the
heart to go into an irregular rhythm," says Dr. Robert Harrison.
Researchers say workers should be given respirators that supply them with fresh air. Better yet,
remote technology should be developed so workers don't have to open up the hatches.
While studying and discussing these, industry looked into and continues to explore measures to
lower/eliminate employee exposures during tank gauging and validating alternative methods to
gauge tanks on the site.
Here's a link to the NIOSH study
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6501a2.htm
The recommendations include the following:
1. Companies have changed procedures to limit the amount of employees allowed on the
tanks to measure, including oil haulers. These prudent and responsible operators have
also increased the amount of personal protective equipment gaugers are required to
wear.
2. Education for all workers, including contractors, to train any worker at the site. These
practices decrease the incidents and increase the employee safety. Continued training to
refresh best practices and keep all contractors updated.
3. Lower the number of workers and number of times tank gauging is
needed.
4. Increased pipeline from sites to gathering facilities has decreased the number of times
gauging in needed. Instead, a piece of equipment, called a LACT unit, will separate the
oil, gas and water to calculate royalty payments and then be piped to a centrally located
facility. This eliminates the need for tank gauging at the well site by truck companies.
5. Tank Gauging Techniques
a. Goal is to eliminate the need for manual tank gauging by oil haulers and employees.
b. Increase automated tank gauges. This increases the safety of the workers by
alleviating the need to manual gauge the tanks.