23 Sep Hazards Unique to the Oil and Gas Industry-The role of PPES

Workers in the oil and gas industry face a wide variety of hazards in their daily job duties. Oil and gas products and chemicals can be irritating, corrosive, flammable and worse. To help prevent workers from coming into contact with these hazards, employers will provide them with personal protective equipment (PPE).
On oil and gas sites, required PPE usually includes eye protection, hearing protection, hand and foot protection, and flame-resistant clothing (FRC). Many workers are also required to wear portable monitors that detect hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or other gases.Oil and gas wells can expose workers to hydrogen sulfide gas. If your workplace uses sand for any process, such as hydraulic fracturing, workers may be exposed to crystalline silica.
Crystalline silica is a known lung carcinogen, and can cause silicosis, which can be debilitating and even fatal. Oil-and-gas-related flash fires can reach up to 1900 degrees
Fahrenheit and can last up to five seconds. These fires most commonly occur in well drilling, servicing, and production-related operations. Fortunately, there are many different
types of personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect against these hazards.

1) Head, Face and Eye PPE:
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to provide their workers with eye protection if their job will expose them to flying particles;
molten metal; hazardous, acidic, or caustic liquids, gases, or vapors; or potentially harmful light radiation.
Safety glasses with side shields are effective at protecting against flying objects.
Impermeable goggles can be worn while working around liquid, gas or vapor hazards.
Face shields can protect the entire face from both flying objects and chemicals.
Face shields aren’t a replacement for goggles or safety glasses, because they aren’t as good at protecting the eyes.
Welders use special filtered helmets to protect their eyes from radiant light, sparks, flying particles and glare.
If there’s a danger of falling objects, overhead electrical hazards or fixed objects that workers could bump into, they’ll need to wear head protection.
All classes of hard hats provide impact and penetration protection. Class G hard hats also provide protection against up to 2,200 volts of electricity.
Class E hard hats protect against up to 20,000 volts. Class C hard hats provide no electrical protection, so they aren’t usually worn on oil and gas sites.

2) Welder PPE-Body PPE:
OSHA recommends that employers and employees choose gloves based on the employee’s job duties, work environment and the performance and construction characteristics of glove materials.
Leather, canvas and fabric gloves can protect hands from dirt, splinters, abrasions, cuts and heat, but they can’t fully protect against liquids or strong chemicals.
Neoprene, nitrile, vinyl and rubber gloves can protect against liquid and chemical hazards, but each material is only rated to protect against certain types of chemicals.
Many of these types of gloves are only intended for a single use and are vulnerable to tears. Specialty gloves can be worn to protect against crushing injuries, heavy vibrations,
and situations where multiple hazards are present.Workers may step on sharp objects, have their feet crushed by heavy objects, be exposed to excessive heat or cold,
and be exposed to slip, trip, and fall hazards. Depending on your worksites job duties, workers may also be susceptible to electrical hazards, caustic chemicals and acids,a
nd even molten metal. Safety boots with steel or impact-resistant toes are common and should have slip-resistant soles with a strong grip.
Boots made of neoprene or nitrile can protect against chemicals or petroleum products. Insulated rubber boots help protect against electric shock.
For welders, leather leggings can be worn above or over boots to protect from sparks and molten metal.

3) Respiratory PPE:
If a workplace has unsafe atmospheric conditions,employers must provide employees with respirators.Before wearing a respirator,
all employees must undergo a medical examination and fit test to ensure that they can safely use a respirator.
Finally, all employees must receive extensive training on their respirator, including how to maintain and inspect it, before using it in the workplace.
Air-purifying respirators have cartridges designed to filter airborne particles and/or chemicals, such as organic vapors or acid gases.
In circumstances where the air cannot be made safe through filtering, such as in oxygen-deficient atmospheres, atmosphere-supplying respirators can provide clean breathing air from a tank or generator.

Summary
Althought theres a wide variety of PPE in the market,SOC is specialized in proffering top world class PPE Brands to suit all the appliactions metioned above for the oil & gas and other industires,
and offer trianings to employees on how to effectivelhy use equipments to ensure workplace safety compliance.

This article was written by
OMINIABOHS ESE SAMSEDY
MD
SOC ENERGY SERVICES LTD