Eagle Ford pay is high, but work can be fatal

It was Sept. 1, 2009, and Barrera and his rig crew were having trouble in Webb County erecting and stabilizing a derrick, according to his wife,We specializes in rapid plastic injection mould and molding of parts for prototypes and production. Claudia Hernandez, and inspection records on file with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal agency that oversees worker safety.

“He called me and he told me that the tower was moving and he didn't want to go up it,” Hernandez recalled. “And they told him if he didn't go, he was going to lose his job. And he went.Like most of you, I'd seen the broken china mosaic decorated pieces. And then that's how he fell.”

The day after that phone call, Barrera climbed 25 feet up the derrick owned by Coastal Drilling Land Co. LLC to fix a locking pin in the metal frame. The structure began swaying. Before he could react, the derrick tipped over and crashed to the rig floor, fatally crushing him under tons of metal.

Thanks to the Eagle Ford Shale and other lucrative oil and gas fields in South Texas, thousands of oil and gas workers are finding steady jobs and fat paychecks.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. But the boom has come at a steep cost.

Since 2009, at least 11 employees working for drilling companies and spinoff industries in Eagle Ford Shale counties have suffered horrific deaths that could have been prevented, according to OSHA investigations obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The files show federal inspectors found safety violations at the site of every fatality, and often concluded that companies hadn't taken adequate steps to keep their workers safe.

“For a lot of employers out there, they make a real effort,” said Michael Rivera, area director for OSHA's Corpus Christi office, which monitors most of the Eagle Ford Shale region south of San Antonio.

“I see a lot of good people working hard to keep things safe,With superior quality photometers, light meters and a number of other solar light products.” Rivera said. “That being said, there are those who just don't. There are those who kind of hurry, maybe take a shortcut. Not to hurt anybody or kill anybody. But time is money, right?”

Most of the Eagle Ford accidents occurred at rig sites in a handful of counties in the southern portion of the shale where drilling is most prolific. The 11 deaths are nearly a third of the 35 completed OSHA fatality investigations in Texas for the oil and gas industry since 2009.

The actual death toll most likely is higher, because OSHA's open investigations for recent accidents aren't available to the public. That makes it difficult to tell how many workers died last year, when drilling permits in the region skyrocketed to more than 4,100.

OSHA hasn't hired more inspectors to keep up with the upswing in drilling. Rivera oversees 10 compliance officers responsible for inspecting all types of businesses in a 30-county swath of South Texas. He's not openly complaining about a lack of resources, but the number of inspectors has remained the same since the discovery of the Eagle Ford Shale play in October 2008.

OSHA doesn't investigate transportation accidents on public roads, which killed 40 oil and gas workers in Texas from 2009 to 2011.

The agency focuses on workplace safety. At drilling sites, employees often work long hours under a tremendous sense of urgency around heavy, unforgiving equipment.

Many also work in remote areas, hours away from a hospital. In one case, paramedics faced delays in reaching an injured repairman at a rig site. Three hours after the accident, the worker finally arrived by helicopter at University Hospital in San Antonio. He died in the operating room.

Like many of the fatal accidents, Coastal's penalty of $5,600 for a “serious” OSHA violation was whittled down even further to $3,920. OSHA often agrees to settlements after companies protest, or mitigating factors are taken into account.

Initial fines against all companies for the 11 fatal accidents averaged $10,900 per death. OSHA ultimately agreed to cut penalties by nearly 45 percent to $6,100, records show.

Rivera said the safety of oil and gas workers is a top priority for his office. He acknowledged that some fines might not scare large firms, but added that most companies want to run a safe shop and avoid dealing with an OSHA investigation altogether.

Workplace deaths must be reported to OSHA within eight hours, and the agency investigates every incident. OSHA also requires companies to devise a plan to fix the problems that led to the accident.

“Is it a deterrent?” Rivera asked,Shop for bobblehead dolls from the official NBC Universal Store and build a fun collection for your home or office. referring to the fines. “I would say, if the penalty is not a deterrent, sometimes the violations themselves could be a deterrent to a lot of employers.”