Monthly Reflections October 2025
Dear Colleagues,
IOGP has published a package of materials focused on the prevention of Line of Fire incidents. The materials can be used by individuals to help protect themselves or others by avoiding being in the line of fire.
The Life Saving Rules have been developed to provide workers in the industry with the actions they can take to protect themselves and their colleagues from fatalities. When we analyse the fatal incidents reported to IOGP between 2000 and 2024 we find that Line of Fire is the Life Saving Rule that was most frequently allocated to the incidents.
A deeper analysis of the fatalities and permanent impairment incidents reported to IOGP has identified 10 Line of Fire hazard categories. The Line of Fire materials have been created to promote learning from these incidents and provide questions and actions to prevent people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. By developing and sharing the materials the intention is to learn from the past and prevent future tragic incidents.
The IOGP data shows that the difference between a high potential outcome (an event where, under different circumstances, there could have been a fatality) and an actual fatal incident is often dependent on where people are positioned in relation to the surrounding hazards. The Line of Fire materials highlight these hazards and how they can be avoided.
The objective of the IOGP Safety Committee is to eliminate fatalities and permanent impairment injuries and we believe the adoption and implementation of these Line of Fire materials is an opportunity to move the industry closer to achieving this objective.
I would like to thank the members of the IOGP Fatality & Permanent Impairment Expert Group, Safety Data Subcommittee and Safety Committee, led by Andrea Parker, Kirsty Walker and Wendy Poore for producing and publishing this valuable package of Line of Fire materials.
Kind regards,
Steve
