EPA Fracking Proposal

The government has not brought out an assessment of health risks and weighted them against the benefits of flacking to debate if they should follow this energy route (Kron 2015, 586). However, the environmental, health and safety issues are not something that should be taken lightly. In this study, we are going to see how oil and gas extraction including hydrofracking is important to the nation, how it is affecting the environmental health and safety of employees and ways in which those hazards can be eliminated. Key terms: Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hydrofracking, Overview Oil and natural gas companies play a major part in the states clean energy future. The US has immense reserves of resources that are sustainable due to the advances in technology like the hydrofracking and horizontal drilling.

Problem statement Hydrofracking is the smashing of rocks with gallons of water, chemicals, and san to bring gas to the surface. The wastewater after fracking pollutes the environment since it is stored either in the open air ponds or wells in the site of operation. Its transportation poses a risk of contamination outside the site. Methane is the by-product emitted during drilling of natural gas and this causes air pollution beyond the drilling site and this one of the greatest greenhouse pollutant and it can cause climate alteration. Therefore, it is important that more strict regulations are passed at the national level and violators of clean water and air laws are prohibited from acquiring land drilling leases (Kron 2015, 591). The first element is management leadership, commitment, and accountability.

The company’s management is responsible for establishing policies, offers perspectives, set expectations and ensures successful operations in the fracking of oil and gas by sourcing adequate resources. However, the management leadership needs to be involved in the operations and be visible in form of their commitment and action. Establishment of clear accountabilities is essential at all the levels (Werner et al 2015, 1127) An EHS support requires a natured safety culture which agrees and supports the set goals zero environment health safety incidents for it to be successful. Every personnel in the company should be involved in the EHS issues and concerns in line with their duty in order to enable every employee to be in a position to identify, communicate and solve unsafe acts in the firm as well as conditions and events which may put them at risk.

Therefore it is important to for site and equipment safety performed shall meet applicable regulatory requirements address important factors such as human-related matters and embody responsible necessities if there are no set regulations. The tools shall only be used as per the fracking of oil and gas in the industry. Environment health and safety regulatory management, information and documentation element should be facilitated. To assess and manage the risk involved in the oil and gas fracking, accurate information is needed for to configure capabilities of sites and facilities used in the extraction of oil and gas as well as potential hazards which could occur. Accurate and updated information regarding potential hazards should contain a list of applicable EHS regulatory requirements, elaborated methods to comply when to take an action and monitored compliance verification.

As EHS proposes that a company can maintain zero incidents despite the hard conditions during fracking of oil and gas. Therefore, a thorough investigation shall be conducted on incidents, adequate and analysis and management shall be put in place. Work-related injuries shall be managed; accidents at work and regulatory violations in the company shall be dealt with. For purposes of taking corrective action, and to prevent the incident from reoccurring, investigation shall involve proper communication, reporting, and follow up. Possible changes in workers, facilities in the site of extraction shall be managed so as to manage and assess the risks which may arise from the changes and may cause adverse effects. Review and measure systems are designed in order to meet the EHS requirements for the purposes of improved operations in the company.

Improved processes shall be integrated within the EHS management system to rectify defects in the hydrofracking and ensure continuous improvement on the performance (Sanz-Calcedo et al 2015, 145). Employee’s health issues related to fracking of oil and gas could be related to skin, sensory organs, respiratory organs and gastrointestinal systems. Adverse effects can be identified with brain damage, low immune, and effects on the cardiovascular systems, kidney failure, and endocrine system. The effect of fracking could also cause cancer and lead to amputations of body parts (Werner et al 2015, 1140). Morales, Bin Gao, Robert W. Kay, Lin Liu, Yalei Zhang, and Tammo S. Steenhuis. "Effect of hydrofracking fluid on colloid transport in the unsaturated zone. " Environmental Science & Technology 48, no. R. Salgado, I. Cambero, and J.