I recently received an email from a friend at the CDC and I feel it is important to pass it along. Too often we who work in the Oil patch become complacent with the day to day and forget just how dangerous it is out there. Please take a moment and share this video and the information with your safety team and your crews. It could mean the difference between going home and going to the hospital or worse the morgue. As the wife of an oilfield worker who does one of these dangerous tasks, this hits very close to home. Please , take care and remember at the end of the day "Everyone goes home".

Today is NIOSH’s official release of the new video: Protecting Oil and Gas Workers from Hydrocarbon Gases and Vapors. https://go.usa.gov/xRwdE

This 13-minute video was developed in partnership with the California Department of Public Health-Occupational Health Branch (CDPH-OHB); special thanks goes to Bob Harrison and Laura Styles for their vital contributions.

The video’s purpose is to describe the hazards associated with manual gauging and fluid sampling on oil and gas production tanks and describes steps that employers and workers can take to do this work safely.

Here is the press release: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-08-22-17.html. It contains additional links to access the video on YouTube, a downloadable version on Vimeo (thanks to CDPH-OHB), and how to order free DVDs.

Please share with each of your companies, networks and membership groups. Our goal is to reach everyone, including subcontractors, who may work around open thief hatches.

Lastly, thank you for the tremendous efforts by many members of our Council in the development of this product! Next will be a Spanish version, which is already underway.

Sincerely,

Kyla Retzer

Kyla Retzer, MPH

Epidemiologist

Oil and Gas Safety and Health Program

CDC-NIOSH Western States Division

P.O. Box 25226

Denver, CO 80225-0226