Heat-related illnesses affect offshore oil and gas rig workers as temperatures rise on the US Gulf Coast.
A rare heat advisory from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Environmental Safety and Enforcement warned offshore oil companies on Tuesday to take extra precautions in the gulf, including taking regular breaks. In some recent cases, affected workers have been brought ashore for further evaluation, according to the alert.
Extreme heat has sweltered Texas and Louisiana for weeks. For nearby offshore production regions, the heat index, a measure of how temperatures feel when combined with humidity, has reached 100F to 110F (38C to 43C) degrees, said Rich Otto, a forecaster for the United States Weather Prediction Center. Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico have reached 88 F in many areas off the coast of Texas and Louisiana, according to the US National Data Buoy Center.
–With assistance from Brian K. Sullivan and Jennifer A. Dlouhy.
