A new American Petroleum Institute (API) report shows that operational injuries and illness for the oil and natural gas industry occur at a rate substantially below the private sector average. The Workplace Safety Report also shows the oil and gas industry rate has been steadily declining.

According to the report:

• The 2011 industry rate was 2.3 incidents per 100 full-time workers versus 3.5 incidents for all of the private sector.
• The industry has decreased its incident rate by 7% since 2010 (and 35% since 2003). The private sector’s rate remained unchanged from 2010 and decreased by 30% since 2003.
• The 2011 rate for upstream is 1.6 (offshore is 0.8) compared to 2.2 for mining as a whole.
• The 2011 rate for refining is 1.1, exactly 25% of the rate for manufacturing as a whole (4.4).

The pipeline rate rounds to 0.0 for almost every year, compared to the 2011 rate of 5.0 for the transportation sector as a whole.

The report is based on information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement and the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.