Abstract: At approximately 1:00 a.m. on November 5, 2002, a four-man crew was drilling a natural gas well. The crew was lifting a 30 foot section of drilling pipe. They had screwed a lifting eye into one end of the pipe and had a safety hook attached to it. As the winch began to lift the section of pipe, it separated from the lifting eye approximately five feet above the employee. The employee was struck in the left shoulder by the pipe and fell to the rig platform. A coworker transported the injured employee to Lodi Memorial Hospital. The initial injury assessment was a broken left collarbone and fractured right forearm. The employee remained in the hospital awaiting surgery on his arm. Complications arose and he was taken into surgery but did not survive. The coroner's report indicated cause of death to be blunt trauma.