May 10, 2010

Iranian Labour New Agency (ILNA) has run an article on the life of the oil industry workers. The report is as follows:

Most of Iran’s oil fields are located in very hot and humid areas of the country. The ‘hot’ season starts in early spring and continues until mid-fall. This environment creates extremely difficult conditions for those who work in the oil fields.

Most locations are covered under the satellite plan, which might seem tolerable in the beginning. New workers are usually young, and their new experiences in a new work environment and other life conveniences tend to mask the difficulties at first.

However, with the passage of time, the situation changes. Marriage, other life changes, the unbearable climatic conditions and severe environmental pollution combine to increase the difficulty of daily existence. Because of such hardship, oil field workers can become depressed or start to use drugs, which can make their situation even worse.

The distinct facial expression of the workers employed in the oil industry is a true testament to their extremely harsh work conditions, which would be unbearable to many of us for only a short period of time.

Lavan is an island, 80 square kilometers in size, located along the coast of the Persian Gulf from East to West. About 1200 people live there. The temperature ranges from 37 to 45 degrees Celsius in summer and from 10 to 25 degrees Celsius in winter, with humidity at 80 to 100% during most of the year. Worker shifts begin before sunrise and end after sunset. The harsh environment and long work hours make conditions for oil industry workers very difficult.

Those employed on the island also must take extra care of their health. Lack of proper medical facilities, doctors and specialists, plus the difficulty of transferring the sick to a neighboring island, can turn an insignificant illness into something big with great consequences for the workers in terms of their jobs.

One bright spot for these workers is a 14-day vacation once a year, and they eagerly await the day they leave to visit their families. However, anticipating a vacation can be filled with anxiety, too. For example, as off-timers are about to leave, relief workers may not show up on time, or the workers may be asked to stay on for some extended period of time in order to meet production demands. In these and other unexpected circumstances, vacations must wait.

One worker, who ended up staying over due to absence of his relief worker, with an extremely sad expression on his face and a catch in his voice, said, “Such difficulties have become a part of our lives here. Losing the time we spend with our families not only makes us very sad, but it can lower our productivity as well.”

When he talked about his 15-year-old daughter and his family, one could easily hear the sadness in his voice — a sadness which was only bearable with the thought of seeing his family again. His 15-year-old daughter had spent only five years of her life with her father present. His absent father’s role had become nothing more than that of a guest who spends a few days at home. He was a 45-year-old man who, because of his extremely harsh work conditions, looked like an old man.

He talked about his daughter’s illness and her constant cries for her father, who was thousands of kilometers away. Her father, who had tired of his daily work, had crawled into a corner, his head filled with the thoughts of his daughter’s illness and her future.

At night, he finds a little bit of relief. Alone on the coral beaches with the sound of the sea in his ears, he spends a few hours resting. The steady rhythm of the sea upon the shore is so soothing that it can rob him of the ability to think about other things and the future. Nevertheless, the blue smoke rising into the sky, even in the dead of night, draws his attention to itself and makes him puff even stronger on his cigarette. The youth, who at one point after finishing college, had accepted this job of working in the islands because he had no other opportunity for employment, is extremely sorry now.

After two years, he is still not used to the conditions and lives his days with difficulty. He does not like having breakfast at 5:30 in the morning, lunch at 11:30, and he talks about his gnawing hunger at 10 o’clock at night. He recalls his college years, the girl he meant to marry, his circle of friends, the foreign language classes he was attending and his weekly hikes in the mountains. He remembers his family, who used to remind him to be wary of pollution and smoke in the air.

He breaks down and curses himself for finishing his studies without being able to engage in a career like his other friends, so that he could avoid this present fate. He curses himself for his loneliness and homesickness. He curses a life that has turned a young, athletic and energetic person into a depressed, chain smoking man. He curses the work that has led him to lose his son without being able to say goodbye to him, curses the choice that has led him to be unable to kiss the hand of his father when it is time to say goodbye. His curses, though, are lost in his cries of defeat, which mingle with the thick smoke rising and the dizzying smell of it.

This island has claimed his life, and time passes slowly. He is surrounded by desert for as far as the eye can see. The humidity is unbearable. It is too difficult to breathe in the 35-degree air that is filled with the smell of gas.

This man’s story is only a glimpse at the lives of the oil workers of Iran, who, despite such huge difficulties, pour their lives and souls into their work. They are dedicated men who encounter numerous risks in the oil and gas fields on a daily basis, hoping to remedy the lack of planning by those in charge. They steadfastly try to advance the development of their country. They seek a brighter future.

Translated by