Abstract: At 2:00 p.m. on December 3, 1990, Employee #1 was removing pipe from the hole of a natural gas well drilling rig. He had just unhooked a joint of pipe and, without sliding the pipe out of the way, went to hook up to the next joint. The first joint had a bend near the top, which made it top-heavy. The pipe rotated and rolled out of the chute, striking Employee #1 in the back as he was squatting to hook the elevators on the next pipe. He sustained potentially serious back injuries and was admitted to U.C. Davis Medical Center for a week for observation. He later entered Enloe and Willows Hospital for treatment of pain resulting from a bruised spinal cord. Employee #1 had 8 or 9 years of experience on drill rigs.