OSHA Announces Safety Stand-Down at Oklahoma Oil and Gas Fields

Oklahoma is on safety stand-down now, but not because the 4th of July is coming up. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it, together with the Mid-Continent Exploration & Production Safety (MCEPS) Network, is sponsoring a safety stand-down from June 22 to July 20 to encourage safety and health practices at all oil-and-gas exploration and production sites in Oklahoma. Although OSHA safety trainingfor instance, OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30is now required by many employers, many workers are still exposed to unnecessary worksite hazards because of employer negligence, ignorance, or plain disregard of basic safety protocols. "This alliance will demonstrate initiative and leadership industrywide throughout the state of Oklahoma in emphasizing the importance of oil and gas work-site safety," declared John Hermanson, the OSHA regional administrator in Dallas. "It is hoped that the stand-down will not only heighten awareness for workers in the oil and gas industry, but also identify and eliminate work-related hazards." According to the work-safety watchdog, MCEPS is a cooperative alliance of OSHA's Oklahoma City Area Office and oil-and-gas industry representatives. Within the stand-down period, the alliance members are expected to encourage employers to voluntarily stop work to carry out site inspections and safetyand-health training for employees. The training centers on the major causes of work-related incidents and deaths in the industry. OSHA Oklahoma City area director David Bates emphasized that members should participate in the stand-down event, as well as encourage subcontractors to do the same. OSHA has provided training materials to members to be used during the job-site inspections. OSHACampus.com provides OSHA training online coursework to teach workers how to identify and avoid worksite hazards, as well as inform them of the employers duty to keep them safe at all times.