The peak industry body said the upstream petroleum sector had a fatality-free year and lost time injury frequency rate in 2004 fell below two incidents per million man hours for the first time, continuing a five year trend in lower incidents. The 2004 figure of 1.9 incidents was down from the previous best annual rate of 2.2 incidents in 2003.

The improved 2004 rate is 67% below the lost time injury frequency rate 10 years ago when 5.8 incidents per million hours worked was the industry statistic.

APPEA’s Health, Safety, Environment and Social Performance Report 2004 also found that the decrease in lost time injuries was achieved despite a significant increase in total hours worked, and there was a drop in environmental incidents overall but an increase in negligible or low-impact incidents.

The report says the most common incidents are “largely preventable” injuries to the hands and fingers.

“APPEA is working with member companies to develop ways of reducing these unfortunate and all too frequent accidents,” the report said.

The report also discussed environmental management, including the identification of protected areas. APPEA also supported enhanced climate modelling to assist the industry’s decision-making in relation to climate change, APPEA chairman Reg Nelson said today.

“Oil and gas exploration, development and production in Australia is not just about creating economic value through the provision of a reliable, competitively priced supply of energy,” Nelson said.

“This industry also creates ‘social value’ by ensuring that its operations provide the highest possible standard of worker health and safety and by ensuring that the natural environment in which we operate receives the best possible level of protection.

“We routinely work with care in all environments from the extremely harsh to the most sensitive. We have hands calloused from years of practical experience of putting good science to use to deliver excellent environmental and safety management performances on a day to day basis.”

APPEA recorded a total of 275 environmental incidents in 2004, more than half of which (162) had “negligible or no impact on fauna and flora, habitat, aquatic ecosystem or water resources”. A further 105 incidents had a low impact on the environment. There were seven incidents with a medium impact and one incident, involving a marine diesel spillage at sea, in the high category.

In 2003, the Australian upstream petroleum industry greenhouse emissions inventory shows that in total there was a significant decline in total emissions over the 2002 inventory level.

“APPEA – which is involved in numerous processes with governments focused on finding the most appropriate means of addressing climate change - supports ongoing international negotiations directed at achieving a global policy response covering all major emitters, all greenhouse gases and all sources of emission and all sequestration modes,” the organisation said in a statement today.

The APPEA report also said the petroleum industry was working closely with the federal government and other stakeholders on the development of marine parks.

“With a high degree of involvement by APPEA and its members, the Australian Government is now considering a proposal for 40,000 square kilometres of Australia’s marine environment in south east Australia to be added to the reserve system. A further four regions developed by the oil and gas industry are currently in preliminary discussions with stakeholders,” the report said.

“The efforts of APPEA and its members have resulted in some Australian governments now focusing on the capacity of the industry to operate without compromising the conservation values of sensitive environments.”