Abstract: At approximately 1:30 p.m. on January 2, 1997, Employee #1, a crew member of oil well service rig #11118, was helping to run rods back into a hole at Pool California Energy Service, Inc. He was working on the floor as a rod was being picked up. It came out of the elevator and fell to the floor, striking Employee #1 on his hard hat. It was later determined that the rods being picked up were caked with mud, which caused an obstruction to form in the elevators. This led to one of the latches being struck open momentarily, allowing the rod to fall out. Employee #1 was standing under a suspended load, which violated the company's safety policy, as per the Accident Prevention Handbook, page 25, item #16.