During the morning of February 24, 2023, an unknown amount of hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide were released, fatally injuring an employee inside an enclosed building at an oil and gas facility in North Dakota. The hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide displaced the oxygen in the building, and the employee asphyxiated in the oxygen-deficient atmosphere.
The employee was considered a “lone worker” who operated multiple oil and gas facilities in the local area. Some of the oil and gas equipment was housed inside enclosed, insulated buildings, allowing operators to work in a climate-controlled environment. At the time of the event, it was -26°F outside, and the interior of the building where the incident occurred (approximately 8 feet tall and 90 square feet) was about 65 °F.