RSHQ has seen an increase in the severity of reported hand injuries in the Qld Drilling and Well Servicing Sectors. Queensland's petroleum and gas drilling and well-servicing workers are sustaining more serious, preventable hand injuries, with one reported every 1.5 months on average.
Safety Alert (link)Drilling and well servicing workers in Queensland’s petroleum and gas industry are sustaining serious hand injuries during routine operational tasks, including an increase in the severity of reported hand injuries. All reported injuries have involved deep tissue trauma, compound fractures, or partial amputations and have needed immediate surgical treatment.
RSHQ has declared hand injuries a regulatory priority in 2026-27 and is calling on industry to focus on this issue and review the learnings outlined in their recent safety alert to reduce both the frequency and severity of preventable hand injuries.
Safer Together is committed to preventing harm to frontline workers by simplifying standardising and sharing. Hand and finger injuries, while not life threatening, can result in life changing, permanent impairment. As such we have made the RSHQ Alert available to all members on our website and distributed it to the frontline via our communication channels. We welcome the opportunity to partner with RSHQ on a targeted engagement campaign (as identified in the RSHQ Regulatory Priorities and Outcomes).
Safer Together recognises that, in recent years, 35% of injuries recorded across industry involved hands and fingers. Hand and finger injuries are number 1 on the top 5 list of claims for serious injuries in Australia.
To address this, Safer Together has a large focus on hand and finger safety with the intention of sharing learnings from incidents and being proactive in avoiding hand and finger injuries in the future. We have developed an on-line Hands and Finger Preservation Portal - the go-to place to find updated tools, materials, and learning events to reduce the incidence of hands and finger injuries in our industry. Many of the items in this Portal have been developed based on the outcomes of our Hand and Finger Preservation Forum - where we bring the right people together to share the best ideas, and learnings, we drive innovation through creative thinking and developing creative solutions.
The Hands and Finger Preservation Portal includes:
- a Hand and Finger Safety Guideline and Pocket Guide (for use in the field).
- a Hands Free Card and Guide
- hands free tool demonstrations
- hands and finger safety posters
- hands and finger safety toolbox materials
- hands and finger safety alerts
- Helping Hands – our Hand and Finger Preservation Program. This Program is designed to reduce the incidence of hand and finger injuries at our well sites. The centrepiece of the program is an innovative workshop exercise in which participants immobilise their dominant hand. They then work in a small team to build a prosthetic hand. The prosthetic hands that are built during the exercise are then distributed to amputee landmine victims throughout the developing world.
For more information about our hand and finger safety resources, or if you would like to book a Helping Hands session at your workplace, email the team at: [email protected].