Monthly Reflections June 2025
by Steve Norton, IOGP Health, Safety, Security & Wells Director
Monthly Reflections June 2025
Dear Colleagues,
IOGP has been collecting and publishing safety performance data from its Members since 1985. The 2024 performance data was recently published and is free to download from the IOGP website.
The open and transparent reporting of data helps the industry understand performance trends and identify where to act. Thank you to the IOGP Members and the Safety Data Team led by Wendy Poore as the Senior Manager and Kirsty Walker as the Subcommittee Chair to collect, quality check and publish the data.
I have copied below one of the key charts from the performance data. It shows the work hours and Fatal Accident Rate since 1985. I would like to point out some of the highlights of the data…
- Since 1985 the Fatal Accident Rate (FAR) has decreased by over 90%
- In 2024 the reported work hours, compared to 2023, increased by 26% with a 6% reduction in the FAR
- The increasing trend in FAR observed in the 2 years after the COVID pandemic has reversed in 2023 and 2024
These highlights from the data give a sense of optimism that we are on the right path.
However, as is the case with safety we must never be complacent and must also look for insights and learnings from the data so we continue our improvement journey. Some of the insights I take from the data…
- There were 32 fatalities in 2024 and each is a tragedy for the families, friends and colleagues of those lost. Our ambition is to eliminate fatalities
- Explosions, fires and burns accounted for 41% of the fatalities reported in 2024. To support the industry in eliminating these events, the IOGP Process Safety Subcommittee is currently developing new guidance for Process Safety in Design, Process Safety for Leaders, Guidelines for Determination of Process Safety Events that could result in Fatality and / or Permanent Impairment, Process Safety Leading Indicators and is also continuing to promote the adoption and implementation of the Process Safety Fundamentals
- Drilling, workover and well operations was the activity with the highest number of fatalities with 11 fatalities in 6 incidents reported in 2024
The published reports contain many insights on the causes and activities related to fatal incidents and High Potential events and I encourage you to take a deeper look to better understand industry performance and the insights you can gain to benefit your own organisation.
The 2 most adopted IOGP Recommended Practices, the Life Saving Rules and Process Safety Fundamentals were developed based on analysis of the fatal accident data and following these will help prevent future incidents. At IOGP we continue to promote adoption of these practices and through the work of the Committees update and issue new Recommended Practices to address key gaps observed in the safety data.
Kind regards,
Steve
