Several TikTokers say the North Sea, which lies between seven countries, is the location of “the most dangerous job in the world.”
a video which has amassed nearly 100 million views on TikTok in less than a week, shows the deadly waves of the North Sea, which can sometimes cause accidents on oil rigs and can be a contributing factor to sleep disorders.
The video contains clips of men working on oil rigs, which are subject to environmental hazards, physical hazards and long-term health risks, according to Morrow & Sheppard Trial Attorneys.
Every worker in the North Sea must be highly trained and know how to respond quickly to emergency situations.
A video posted to TikTok by @deepseamysteries has racked up nearly 100 million views on TikTok in less than a week
The video shows giant waves that have been the cause of previous oil rig accidents and sleep disorders
The waters in the video are the North Sea, located between the waters of Great Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany.
According to the National Whistleblower Center, there are currently 184 drilling platforms in the North Sea alone.
Injuries and fatalities are possible, with 23 deaths and 1,654 injuries caused by more than 4,000 oil rig accidents between 2012 and 2020 through the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Incidents that can cause injuries and deaths include equipment failure, falls, explosions, fires and exposure to toxic chemicals.
Drowning is also a strong possibility.
In addition to physical injuries and fatalities, oil rig workers can also suffer from shift work disorder (SWD).
The condition is usually caused by working hours during usual sleep periods.
The National Center for Biotechnological Information indicates that the main symptoms of the disorder are excessive sleepiness and insomnia, temporarily associated with the work schedule.
Professionals such as the Norwegian researcher and professor Siri Waage and Bente Elisabeth Moen had a study published in 2009 among 103 oil rig workers in the North Sea.
The men worked twelve hours a day every week and then got four weeks off.
The study concluded that 24 of the men were classified as suffering from SWD and that these individuals had poor sleep quality and health problems during the four weeks they were off.
Semi-submersible drilling rigs are one of five different types of active drilling rigs where mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) operate and there are currently a total of 184 drilling rigs in the North Sea
Although staff at Morrow & Sheppard Trial Attorneys recommend that employees be properly trained, anyone from unskilled laborers to professionals can work on an oil rig.
Some drilling rigs, including semi-submersible drilling rigs, are designed for deep offshore ocean drilling that can support heavy machinery
Catastrophic accidents can occur on oil rigs, two of which are the worst in the North Sea.
The North Sea disaster on the Piper Alpha oil platform in Great Britain claimed the lives of 167 workers on July 6, 1988 as a result of miscommunication and multiple explosions.
61 workers survived, but it took three weeks to bring the fire under control, and it remains the worst oil rig disaster in history.
Another incident eight years earlier on the Norwegian oil rig Alexander L. Kielland.
High winds caused 12 meter high waves in the North Sea, which began to destroy the platform and killed 123 of the 212 workers.
Most deaths in 1980 were due to drowning, but during the investigation it was discovered that there was already an unnoticed crack in one of the structure's leg braces.
A more recent incident was the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20, 2010, which killed 11 workers and injured 17 in the Gulf of Mexico.