Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ) is the independent regulator for safety health in Queensland’s resources sector. The Petroleum Gas Inspectorate (the Inspectorate) administers regulation petroleum gas industry. RSHQ uses a risk-based data-driven approach to pursue its vision of zero serious harm resource sector workers. In Queensland, on average, there are 200 fraccing operations c...

Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) is responsible for many incidents of occupational toxic exposure, especially in the petroleum industry. The clinical effects of H(2)S depend on its concentration and the duration of exposure. H(2)S is immediately fatal when concentrations are over 500-1000 parts per million (ppm) but exposure to lower concentrations, such as 10-500 ppm, can cause various respiratory sym...

Petroleum can disrupt endocrine function in humans and wildlife, and interacts in particularly complex ways with the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, responsible for the release of the stress hormones corticosterone and cortisol (hereafter CORT). Ingested petroleum can act in an additive fashion with other stressors to cause increased mortality, but it is not clear exactly why--does p...

An oil spill is the accidental or intentional discharge of petroleum products into the environment due to human activities. Although oil spills are actually just a little percent of the total world oil pollution problem, they represent the most visible form of it. The impact on the ecosystems can be severe as well as the impact on economic activities. Oil spill cleanup is a very difficult and e...