During 2003–2013, the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry experienced unprecedented growth, doubling the size of its workforce and increasing the number of drilling rigs by 71%. To describe fatal events among oil and gas workers during this period, NIOSH analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), a comprehensive database of fatal work injuries.
During 2003-2008, 648 oil and gas extraction workers were killed on the job (onshore and offshore, combined), resulting in an annual fatality rate of 29.1 deaths per 100,000 workers, over seven times the rate for all US workers.
