(Continued from Part 1.) Safety advocates maintain that the oil & gas industries use the existence of the exemptions, the lack of clarity even to regulators regarding which trucks they cover, and the low risk of getting caught to apply the exemptions to industry trucks to which they do not belong. The Houston work injury lawyers at Denena & Points note that the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, an association composed of police and highway enforcement authorities, states that enforcing even existing regulations is challenging due to a lack of clarity because federal regulators won’t provide a list of the industry vehicles that qualify for the exemptions.
Federal authorities proposed some revisions to the existing highway regulations in 2010. But numerous outraged executives of trucking, oil, and gas companies pounced on the regulators, submitting comments opposing the changes. The executives argued that the changes would require them to hire additional, inexperienced drivers that would greatly add to industry costs and road safety risks. But oil field workers, along with safety advocates, disagreed with the advocates. Those on the ground know and flatly state that requiring workers to drive additional hours after shifts lasting nearly a full day or more is patently unsafe and heightens the risks of dangerous truck crashes.
Our Houston work injury lawyers point out that oil & gas industry exemptions allow industry drivers not to count the time they’ve spent waiting at the well site for crews to finish their tasks before driving their hauls. And these waits can sometimes last as long as 36 hours, with no place for the waiting driver to catch any comfortable rest.
Other commercial truckers that work 60 hours over 7 consecutive days must take at least 34 hours off to get two full nights of sleep. Oil and gas truckers that work the same hours are only required to take 24 hours off for rest. Oil & gas industry lobbying has assured the maintenance of the exemptions in the face of strong government and safety advocate calls for change. Our Houston work injury lawyers realize that it’s hard to argue with an industry offering an economic boom and growing numbers of industry jobs during a time when almost all other industries are in sad decline. Even if an unnecessary number of worker fatalities and collateral casualties from excessive driver fatigue stand as a clear secondary result of the exemptions.
The worker fatality statistics in comparison with other industries speak for themselves. And industry workers, government safety advocates, and other concerned safety specialists also speak for the need for change in the oil and gas industries’ regulations. They say it’s time for the half-century-old safety exemptions to finally go away. And they’re right. But only continued, strident calls for change might have a chance of bringing about increased safety in the industries offering shining examples of prosperity in dark economic times. But safety risks aren’t the only costs of oil and gas industry arrogance. Our Houston work injury lawyers suggest that you might also want to look at unnecessarily high gas and energy prices and disproportionate oil industry profits.
If you or a loved one has been injured because of unsafe oil & gas industry practices, feel free to contact us for a legal consultation and case evaluation regarding your accident. Your initial consultation is free, and could provide you with the information you need to make sound decisions leading to a full financial recovery for your undeserved injury.