A Review of the Literature: Motor Vehicle Safety Initiatives in the Oil and Gas Extraction Industry

Abstract

BACKGROUND Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry, resulting in approximately thirty worker fatalities every year. Many oil and gas extraction companies have developed comprehensive motor vehicle safety programs; some have described the impact of those programs at industry conferences, in industry magazines, or in trade journals. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of the motor vehicle safety initiatives that have been published in this industry. This paper will summarize the reported effectiveness of these initiatives, identify the research gaps in the literature, and describe recommendations to enhance future motor vehicle safety research in the oil and gas extraction industry. METHODS To be included in this review, articles had to meet the following criteria: 1) available in an online database; 2) published during 1990-2012; 3) describe a motor vehicle safety initiative within an oil and gas extraction company; and 4) objectively measure the effectiveness of at least one component of a motor vehicle safety initiative. RESULTS The authors identified 38 articles that met the criteria above. Oil and gas extraction companies have employed a variety of interventions to improve motor vehicle safety among their workforce; the most common found in this review were in-vehicle monitoring, journey management, driver training and qualification, and driver fitness and alertness. CONCLUSIONS There is a need to improve the quality of research articles examining motor vehicle safety in the oil and gas extraction industry. The authors’ systematic review found a limited number of published articles describing motor vehicle safety initiatives in the oil and gas extraction industry, particularly in the U.S. In addition, the articles often suffered from a weak study design and did not evaluate the long-term impact of their initiatives over time. There is a continued need for oil and gas extraction companies to evaluate the impact of their motor vehicle safety initiatives and publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals to enhance the dissemination of effective strategies.

On the road again: A cross‐sectional survey examining work schedules, commuting time, and driving‐related outcomes among U.S. oil and gas extraction workers

“…In this analysis, workers whose employers did not have journey management policies were more likely to report feeling drowsy more than once a month while driving at work (only in bivariate analysis) or having fallen asleep while driving at work. There is some evidence that journey management combined with other road safety approaches reduces miles driven and crash exposure 14,64 . A deeper analysis of the individual components of journey management in reducing miles driven and crashes is needed to further assess the effectiveness of this approach.…”

“…The question on commuting was adapted from the American Community Survey. Motor vehicle safety program and policy questions were developed based on OGE literature and in consultation with subject matter experts 14,18 . Survey questions and response options can be viewed in Supporting Information: .…”

“…There is some evidence that journey management combined with other road safety approaches reduces miles driven and crash exposure. 14,64 A deeper analysis of the individual components of journey management in reducing miles driven and crashes is needed to further assess the effectiveness of this approach.…”

“…In response, industry‐wide recommendations on motor vehicle safety and fatigue management have been developed by international industry associations 12,13 . Consistent with these recommendations, OGE operators and contractors have implemented interventions such as seat belt policies, journey management, in‐vehicle monitoring systems, mobile phone restrictions, driver safety orientations, pretrip vehicle inspections, and near‐miss reporting 14 . However, the extent to which each of these has been implemented in the U.S. or among companies of varying sizes is not known.…”

“…Motor vehicle safety program and policy questions were developed based on OGE literature and in consultation with subject matter experts. 14,18 Survey questions and response options can be viewed in Supporting Information: 1. The primary outcomes of interest in this study were 1) frequency of feeling very drowsy while driving at work, 2) having ever fallen asleep while driving a work vehicle, and 3) having experienced a "near miss" in the past week.…”