The Australian Government commissioned the National assessment of chemicals associated with coal seam gas extraction in Australia in 2012.
The Assessment examined 113 chemicals used by companies in Australia between 2010 and 2012 in drilling and hydraulic fracturing for coal seam gas, to develop a stronger understanding of the risks these chemicals could pose to the health of workers, the public and the environment.
Read the Assessment Overview for a summary of the Assessment and its methods and findings.
The Assessment was a complex project of Australian Government partners, resulting in 14 reports and reviews.
The Assessment looked at scenarios where workers could come into contact with a chemical during the coal seam gas production process and whether the chemicals could be harmful to the workers in these specific events.
How workers could come into contact with a chemical
Workers may be involved in any or all parts of the coal seam gas extraction process, including storing and transporting chemicals to the well site, preparing and using chemicals in drilling or fracturing, cleaning and maintaining equipment, or managing waste water extracted from the well. During these activities, workers may be working directly with chemicals, sometimes in concentrated forms.
For workers, these scenarios involved skin contact, or breathing dusts or chemical vapours or contact with spills during the transport, storage and handling of chemicals. The Assessment looked at risks to workers when involved in:
- transporting and storing chemicals
- mixing or blending chemicals to produce formulations
- injecting fluid formulations into the well
- cleaning and conducting other maintenance activities
- transporting and storing waste water (otherwise known as flowback and produced water)
- an industrial accident resulting in contact with a chemical.
Scenarios where workers could come into contact with coal seam gas chemicals
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These scenarios did not take into account standard safety and handling precautions such as personal protective equipment or other workplace health and safety strategies, which are required by law.
In practice, measures to protect coal seam gas workers, such as workplace design, safe work practices, chemical labelling and personal protective equipment, are required by law or industry standards.
In these scenarios, the majority of chemicals (65 of the 113 tested) were found to be unlikely to cause harm to workers’ health during coal seam gas extraction, even if standard protections weren’t in place.
Some chemicals were found to be potentially harmful to workers if one-off contact occurs in the event of an industrial accident, or if repeated contact occurs during long-term mixing and blending or cleaning and maintenance.
Scenarios where chemicals could potentially cause harm to coal seam gas workers
Workers could potentially come into contact with harmful amounts of coal seam gas chemicals when mixing or blending chemicals to produce formulations, performing cleaning and other maintenance activities, or in the event of an industrial accident resulting in one-off contact with a chemical.
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Mixing or blending chemicals |
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Cleaning and conducting maintenance |
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| Who might come into contact with the chemical | When they might come into contact with the chemical | What chemicals could cause harm | What protects workers from harm |
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Workers involved in mixing and blending chemicals to produce formulations to inject into the well. Workers involved in cleaning or other maintenance activities after drilling or fracturing has occurred. |
Inhaling chemicals over a long period of time while mixing and blending or cleaning and maintaining equipment |
If no protective measures were in place, 12 of the 113 chemicals tested could potentially cause harm to the health of workers involved in mixing or cleaning.
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This scenario looked at what could happen if standard safety and handling practices were not in place. In practice, measures to protect coal seam gas workers, such as workplace design, workplace practices, chemical labelling and personal protective equipment, are required by law or industry controls. Work health and safety legislation at the state, territory and Commonwealth level, together with regulations and standards for chemical use, set the requirements for these protections. |
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Industrial accident |
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| Who might come into contact with the chemical | When they might come into contact with the chemical | What chemicals could cause harm | What protects workers from harm |
|---|---|---|---|
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Workers involved in any activities during the production process when an accident or incident occurs that leads to one-off contact with a chemical. |
Spills, accidents or inadvertent contact with a chemical during other activities. The greatest risk is when working with highly concentrated chemicals. |
If no protective measures were in place, 44 of the 113 chemicals tested could potentially cause harm to workers in an industrial accident. These chemicals are:
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Coal seam gas companies have a legal duty to protect workers from harm. Work health and safety legislation requires dangerous chemicals to carry instructions for their safe handling, use and disposal. Companies must also have adequate protective measures in place to reduce the risk of accidental harm from chemicals occurring. These measures may include personal protective equipment, safe work protocols or workplace design. If a chemical spill or incident occurs, by law companies must have emergency protocols in place to detect, contain, clean up, respond to and report the incident. |
What protects workers
These scenarios looked at what could happen if standard safety and handling practices were not in place.
In practice, measures to protect coal seam gas workers, such as workplace design, safe work practices, chemical labelling and personal protective equipment, are required by law or industry standards.
Work health and safety legislation at the state, territory and Commonwealth level, together with regulations and standards for chemical use, set the requirements for these protections.
Read more about protections for workers.
More information
What the findings mean for:
Information about:
Text alternative of the scenario infographic
Scenarios where workers could come into contact with coal seam gas chemicals
Scenarios where all chemicals were unlikely to cause harm to workers:
- Transporting and storing chemicals
- Injecting chemical formulations into the well
- Transporting and storing waste water
Scenarios where some chemicals could cause harm to workers if no protective measures were in place:
- Mixing or blending chemicals
- Industrial accident
- Cleaning and conducting maintenance