Abstract: At approximately 7:30 a.m. on May 12, 2005, Employee #1, a well puller for nine years at an oil well service company, was performing the regularly assigned task of installing a blowout preventer on an oil well while a pump change was taking place. The crew Employee #1 was working with had begun the service the day before and capped the wellhead at the time with an overnight valve. At the start of the day, Employee #1 opened the overnight valve to check pressure within the well bore and found the well to be "blowing," so a valve was opened releasing water into the well. This process cools the surrounding formation and drives formation fluid and gases away from the well bore to get the well to start "sucking." This process eliminates the well's ability to rapidly send fluid and gases to the surface. After 30 minutes, the well was tested and found to be "sucking." The wellhead was then removed and a Stottler bag was positioned over the well. A Stottler bag is a type of annular blowout preventer used to shut a well despite having tools or pipes within the wellbore in the event of a sudden release of gas or fluid to the surface. Employee #1 and another well puller were positioning the blowout preventer when the well suddenly and rapidly released steam and hot fluid, which sprayed Employee #1, causing thermal burns to his left side. Employee #1 was hospitalized and treated at Grossman Burn Center and received skin grafts. It was found that the well bore was not positively controlled. No standard exists to require the positive control of a well bore undergoing servicing.