Like many industries, the oil and gas sector is experiencing significant challenges when it comes to hiring – and retaining – staff. With such a tight labor market, producers are now being faced with no other option but to hire employees who might have little to no experience in the field. In doing such, the necessity of oilfield safety training and certification has never been more important.
Effective training not only supports safer work environments, but it also reduces injuries, incidents and fatalities. For those in oil and gas, effective training programs target safety hazards, including risks of falls and injuries, explosions and fires and high-pressure lines that can pose serious dangers.
Investing in high-quality training will equip your workforce with the skills and tools to not only recognize and avoid on-the-job hazards, but it also benefits businesses in a number of ways.
Benefits of training for businesses and employees
- Improved Employee Performance: When employees are provided with appropriate training, it results in them doing their job more effectively and efficiently. This results in fewer accidents and incidents and less delays
- More Qualified Staff: By training employees, businesses show their willingness to invest in their workforce’s health and safety, boosting their chances of not only retaining staff, but recruiting, as well.
- Job Satisfaction: Investing in training also adds to workers’ satisfaction with their career and company. This also adds to a company’s bottom line by retaining labor instead of having to spend resources on finding, hiring and training new staff.
How to implement oilfield safety training effectively
While government regulations from OSHA and the Department of Labor typically necessitate specific industry training and certification requirements, there are also state and local regulations that play a part. For oil and gas operators, ensuring the competency of personnel and investing in training are a necessity, not a ‘wish list’ item.
Companies must stay up-to-date on industry regulations and standards, which identify the scope of necessary training curriculum and needs. From there, researching the appropriate training courses and needs can be done via the Internet on sites such as Easybook Training.
Once the required training course is determined, employers can decide if the training should be conducted via in-person/classroom or online.
After the training has been delivered and students have successfully completed the required courses, certification can be delivered – and companies can rest assured they have taken the right steps for both their staff, and overall business operation.

5 Top Tips:
1. Stay up to date with regulatory changes and requirements
2. Implement ‘refresher’ training for interested staff
3. Offer flexibility when it comes to how courses are delivered – with online training, gone are the days of scheduling based around a physical location, day and time
4. Champion your company’s safety and training successes, whether it be through a company wide newsletter or posted bulletins
5. Join associations related to the industry to learn from peers