Increasing number of hydraulic fracturing operations necessitates paying more attention to the safety and environmental considerations of this technology. In-depth understanding of the complex nature and root-causes of incidents related to the hydraulic fracturing operation is a prerequisite for any proactive risk mitigation strategy. Many of the safety and environmental incidents during the development of shale resources are widely regarded by public as results of hydraulic fracturing operation. Differentiation among multiple steps of developing oil and gas resources allows an independent root cause analysis. In this approach incidents that are not directly caused by underground injection of fracturing fluid can be highlighted. These incidents can be treated in the same manner as common incidents in conventional production. In this research the hydraulic fracturing operation is broken down into its components and potential risks are investigated. Also, leading safety and environmental indicators for this industry are defined and case-studies are investigated to find the connections between the incidents and the proposed indicators.
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