I think there are a lot of mental health problems in the oil and gas and legal industries because they push gag orders en mass to cover up devastating unforgivable crimes by the rich. Anyone with half a brain knows that gags violate rights, freedom, truth, the public interest and the law; gags are anti-justice.
I think so many lawyers have serious mental health problems and horrific addictions including sexually abusing others because they know they take one hell of a lot of money from their clients while intentionally harming them (usually via gags) to protect the rich, the status quo, the unjust corrupt judicial industry and their careers. What a disgusting way to earn a living. The crisis the legal industry is in screams for help, but the rich and corrupt “justice” leaders don’t give a shit about the lawyers that sustain them.
I think there are a lot of mental health problems in the oil and gas industry because workers are paid to intentionally poison the environment and communities they work in. It goes against life to poison the earth. Drinking and drugging dulls the guilt, but not for long.
Workers and communities poisoned by oil and gas operations are often exposed to undisclosed toxic chemicals, radioactive waste and equipment, harmful levels of CO2, methane, BTEX, sour gas; most frac’d formations globally have been soured by industry’s bad practices.
Toluene (the T in BTEX) damages the brain as does sour gas even in low concentrations. Methane and CO2 also harm the brain and can kill in high enough concentrations and or enclosed spaces, contrary to the anti-science, pro polluter select ignorant few Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith allowed to vote in her 2024 leadership review.
Jason Scott@JasonOnTheDrums:
Ableg
In the 2022 UCP leadership race, 84,000 members voted
In 2024,, Smith ONLY allowed 6,000 members to participate in her leadership review
Of those, only 4,633 voted, less than 1% of Albertans.
Smith PREVENTED 78,000 UCP members from the opportunity to exercise their right to vote!
The UCP is NOT a “grassroots” partyIt’s an inhumane pro rape kids (via killing sex ed in schools; the more ignorant kids are, the easier to rape them and the easier for raping families to get away with it over many years), pro unimpeded profit-raping for rich law violators, and pro polluter party knowingly letting worker and community member brains get fried, with a bit of selfishness, ugliness (inside and out), greed and hate tossed in.
Brendan Lavery:
Big oil paid for a lot of votes. Too bad Albertans weren’t asked.
Cassandra Pollock:
Ummm what about all the Conservatives that were not aloud to renew their memberships with denial letters right from UCP HQ that came with very personal attacks against these traditional conservatives? Why are you not writing about that? There was all kinds of scandal around that, that you conveniently leave out. I guess so much for actual unbiased Journalism, it’s not in this article
Note the red dotted line: “Acute Threshold” of methane in Alberta Health’s graph above
Mental Health Issues in Oil Industry Cost $200 Billion Annually, The financial losses come from reduced productivity, high employee turnover, or the loss of skilled labor as a direct result of unmanaged mental health challenges by Midland Reporter-Telegram HSE Now, Oct 22, 2024
Mental health issues in oil industry cost $200 billion annually by Mella McEwen, Oil Editor, Oct 12, 2024, mrt
Bruises, scrapes, even broken bones are visible signs of the risks of working in the oilpatch. Less visible, however, are the mental risks.
Accidents and injuries affect not only the well-being of employees, but a company’s financial health, Daniel Radabaugh, chief strategy officer at Xccelerated Construction Unlimited. told members of the Permian Basin STEPS — Service, Transmission and Exploration and Production — safety network at their monthly meeting this week. He estimated the costs to businesses to be about $200 billion annually.
The financial losses come from reduced productivity, high employee turnover or the loss of skilled labor is a direct result of unmanaged mental health challenges, he said. He told those in attendance the oil and gas industry must develop a similar mindset in addressing mental health as it does when it comes to addressing physical health in terms of prevention and support.
Radabaugh offered some stark statistics when it comes to mental health and the oil industry:
- 19% of oil and gas workers experience psychological disorders.
- One in five experience depression, anxiety and/or substance abuse.
- The suicide rate for oilfield service workers is 54.2 per 100,000 workers.
- Nearly 15% of oil and gas workers report substance abuse problems, higher than the national workforce average.
- 86% of workers said company culture should support mental health.
He also listed several causes:
- Long work hours.
- Remote and isolated work environment.
- High physical demand.
- Workplace culture.
- Being away from family.
- High stress environment.
- No mental outlet for relief.
“The volatility of the industry leads to employment uncertainty and financial stress,” he added. “Layoffs fuel anxiety and depression.”
Radabaugh also offered several solutions to strengthen mental health among oilfield employees
- Create a culture of support.
- Encourage open dialogue about mental health.
- Company leaders should be engaged on the issue.Are you kidding me? Company leaders are too greedy and selfish to give a shit about their workers they profit rape off of, and often sicken and kill, or communities and families the industry poisons on a daily basis, or water, land and air. They mostly care about money and more money and getting away with lying and pissing on the law and safety requirements to make more money.
- Implement an employee wellness program regarding mental health.
- Raise awareness through management training.
- Provide preventative care and wellness checkups.
- Promote a work/life balance.
- Realize it is a problem.
“Map out mental health resources within your company and community. Identify stress triggers in the workforce and brainstorm potential coping strategies,” he advised.
Refer also to:
Sour gas, H2S, damages the brain, even in very low concentrations no matter what lies authorities and companies spew.
2020: Sprocket Energy Corp: Bigger sour gas release – 480,000 litres – by “mechanical failure” (code for frac hit?) at Fox Creek Alberta. People live there, H2S is deadly, damages the brain even at low levels, yet again, media reports nothing. Jason Kenney/Steve Harper have friends on the board?
2019: Profile of the Legal Profession [in USA] Report; article on it: https://www.techlawcrossroads.com/2019/08/aba-profile-reveals-a-profession-in-crisis/
Diversity? Not So Much
A whopping 85% of the profession is still white. 85%.
For example, while the Report’s introduction points out that the profession changes every year, much of the story contained in the Report is unfortunately the same. For example, a whopping 85% of the profession is still white and mostly male. 85%.
… 80% of our federal judges are white. Almost 75% are men. That’s an incredible lack of progress for a key metric. White men don’t like to share power do they?
… The Report also reveals what most of us would have assumed: public service lawyers are grossly underpaid with civil legal aid lawyers being paid on average the least of the least. Its no wonder we have an access to justice problem.
… 21% of lawyers report problem drinking; 32% of lawyers under 30 report problem drinking. This compares to 6.4% of the general population. 25-35% do lawyers facing disciplinary proceedings report some mental illness or addiction issue.
Above snap taken in 2019
2015: What happened to those endless promises that fracing brings jobs jobs jobs and prosperity for all? Trican lays off 137 workers in Odessa, how many in Alberta? Oil and gas industry workers not only always must worry about dying or being disabled on the job with companies everywhere greedily cutting safety corners to make more profit for the rich, they also have to always worry about getting laid off because of greed fed automation.
2014: Benzene Exposure Near the US Permissible Limit Is Associated With Sperm Aneuploidy
2013: Former Gas Workers: Fracking Caused Health Problems and is Harmful to Environment
2013: Fracking Injuries, deaths and dangers for workers and communities
…
Personal Injuries
According to the Institute for Southern Studies, approximately 435,000 workers are employed by the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry, with half working for well services companies that conduct hydraulic fracking. Fracking workers are more than seven times more likely to die on the job than other types of workers. The Institute also notes oil and gas field workers work an average 20 hour shift
Due to the inherently dangerous nature of fracking, these workers often face crippling injuries to their neck, back, knee, and shoulders, and are sometimes left paralyzed or die as a result of explosions, seismic activity or sinkholes that open with little or no warning. Some of the safety hazards that fracking workers regularly encounter include fatigue from working long shifts, being struck by moving equipment and high-pressure lines, and working in extreme temperatures and confined spaces. Doyle Raizner currently has a case (Perio v. Titan Maritime, LLC and T&T Marine Salvage, Inc.) where the worker’s leg was caught in a cable resulting in him being thrown 30 feet in the air and dropped on the beach. Accidents in the oil and gas industry can be catastrophic and fatal. Fracking makes an already dangerous job more dangerous due to the increased risk of seismic activity and explosions, as well as the long hours that often result in worker fatigue. …
Chemical and Oil Spills
Fracking fluids, which can comprise hundreds of chemicals, are exempted from the nation’s clean water laws, allowing companies to flush chemicals into the ocean, and oil industry experts estimate that at least half of the chemical-laced water remains in the environment after a fracking operation. Surprisingly, the exact chemical makeup of the chemicals used in fracking is not public knowledge, since disclosure of these fluids is protected as proprietary trade secrets. Federal regulators are currently allowing companies to release fracking fluid into the sea without requiring them to file a separate statement or environmental impact report analyzing the possible effects, an exemption that was affirmed earlier this year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to an August 3, 2013 report in the Huffington Post. …
Toxic Exposure
During the fracking process, silica sand is mixed with water and other chemicals and pumped into shale formations at high pressure to break up the rock and stimulate well production. Both onshore and offshore fracking can use hundreds of thousands of pounds of silica/sand, which creates airborne dust at the fracking site, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has found that fracking sites were exposed to dust containing high levels of respirable crystalline silica.
Hydraulic fracking sand contains up to 99 percent silica. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), crystalline silica particles present in the body become trapped, causing lung inflammation and reducing the lungs’ ability to take in oxygen. Even exposure to small quantities of crystalline silica over time can lead to cancer, bronchitis, or silicosis. In a Hazard Alert issued in June 2012 by OSHA and NIOSH, seven areas of exposure to silica for fracking workers were identified:
- Dust ejected from thief hatches (access ports) on top of the sand movers during refilling operations while the machines are running (hot loading)
- Dust ejected and pulsed through open side fill ports on the sand movers during refilling operation
- Dust generated by on-site vehicle traffic
- Dust released from the transfer belt under the sand movers
- Dust created as sand drops into, or is agitated in, the blender hopper and on transfer belts
- Dust released from operations of transfer belts between the sand mover and the blender
- Dust released from the top of the end of the sand transfer belt (dragon’s tail) on sand movers
Because the fracking process is essentially the same for both onshore and offshore operations, all fracking workers face the same types of exposure. …
2012: Oil industry workers oppose drilling and fracking in Calgary
2012: Fracking’s dangers for workers by the Institute for Southern Studies
Number of workers employed by the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry: 435,000
Percent of those workers employed by well servicing companies, including those that conduct hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” for natural gas: almost 50
Occupational deaths in the oil and gas extraction industry from 2003 to 2009 per 100,000 workers: 27.5
Number of times that rate exceeds the fatality rate for all U.S. workers: more than 7
Percent by which fatalities among oil and gas workers rose from 2003 to 2005, as the drilling boom accelerated: 15
Rank of highway crashes among the top causes of fatalities in the industry: 1
Number of oil and gas workers killed in highway crashes over the past decade: more than 300
Of the 648 oil and gas field worker deaths from 2003 to 2008 alone, portion that were due to highway crashes: 1/3
Portion of workplace fatalities accounted for by highway crashes across all industries in 2010:1/5
Length of shifts in hours that oil and gas field workers are routinely pressured into working by employers who cite longstanding regulatory exemptions enjoyed by the industry: 20
The legal limit of workshifts for most commercial truckers, in hours: 14
Of the 2,200 oil and gas industry trucks inspected from 2009 to February 2012 by state police in Pennsylvania, the epicenter of the fracking boom, percent that were in such poor condition they had to be taken off the road: 40
Number of fracking sites where the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently collected air samples to evaluate worker exposure to crystalline silica, which is present in the “frac sand” used in the natural gas extraction process and causes silicosis (shown in X-ray above), an incurable lung disease: 11
Percent of the tested fracking sites where workers’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica exceed occupational health limits: 100
Percent of crystalline silica that typically makes up “frac sand”: 100
Pounds of sand typically used to frack a single well: up to 4 million
Percent of the 116 air samples collected that exceeded the NIOSH recommended exposure limit by a factor of 10 or more, rendering the use of half-mask air-purifying respirators insufficiently protective: 31
Date on which two workers were hurt in an explosion at a fracking tank site in Texas: 5/16/2012
Number of months before the explosion that the site’s owner, Vann Energy Services LLC, was cited for 17 serious health and safety violations: 3
Date on which the AFL-CIO wrote a letter to federal labor officials expressing concern about serious safety and health risks faced by workers in the fracking industry and calling for better protections: 5/22/2012
Percent change in the number of drilling rigs from 2010 to 2011: +22
Percent change in the number of inspections at those work sites: -12
2013 recorded (made public in 2014): AER’s outside counsel Glenn Solomon lays it out in dirty detail how the oil industry gags the harmed so that companies can contaminate drinking water again down the street:
A fucking lawyer said this to a frac harmed family in Alberta seeking legal advice!
2005: Sour gas cartoon in Calgary Herald
