Fiery History of Gulf of Mexico Offshore Oil Rig Blazes

 Oil experts may sneer at the idea of offshore oil rigs being anything more than safe comfortable cocoons of security, but the fact is that oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico continue to be deadly places to work in.  Since 2006, there have been 509 recorded fires on oil and gas drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Nine of these fires have killed two people, and left 12 more with  serious injuries. Transocean’s Rig Safety Record Over the past four years, Transocean rigs have been involved in 19 fires. Four of these were severe enough to cause serious injuries to workers. “Serious injuries” here means those that require evacuation to the shore. Over the past two years alone there have been two fires on Transocean rigs. The most recent offshore rig fires were in 2008, and then again,  in January this year. Those fires resulted in the deaths of two men. One of them sustained serious burn injuries, while the other jumped into the cold waters of the Gulf of Mexico to escape the blaze. Unfortunately, those figures may only be between the tip of the iceberg. Many offshore injuries go unreported or underreported. That means the actual number of injuries that occur on these oil rigs is much higher. Oil drilling companies often cite recorded injury and fatality rates to boast of their safety record. The fact however, is that there are unreported injuries that are not considered in official figures. Maritime lawyer Brian Beckom is a Board-Certified Trial Lawyer whose primary focus is the representation of drillers, roustabouts, roughnecks, and other offshore and oil rig workers in offshore accidents in Texas, Louisiana, along the Gulf Coast,  across the country and in international waters.