Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120123849 - Pool California Energy Service

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

On March 14, 1997, Employee #1 and four coworkers, of a oil well servicing company, were at a work site. Employee #1 was a crew worker; his coworkers were the rig supervisor, the operator, and two floorhands. They were drilling a horizontal well using a production rig with sub-base and a power-driven rotary table. Each pipe was 60 ft long and they had already made 12 connections. They had drilled down 720 ft and were making a connection at the time of the accident to drill down another 60 ft. Employee #1 and the two floorhands pulled the kelly from the rotary table for the next connection. While pushing the kelly, swivel, elevator, bail, and block to the rathole, the elevator struck the standing pipes. After pushing the kelly into the rathole, Employee #1 went to the edge of the platform on the side of the rathole. One coworker was between the drill pipes and the circular table and another was at the other edge of the platform, on the side where the drill pipes were located. The operator was lowering the kelly into the rathole when the when the load fell and the 400 lb bale attached to the block struck Employee #1 on the shoulder. He sustained serious injuries in his shoulder, including torn ligaments and an indentation of his clavicle. The main cause of this accident was the equipment attached to the travelling block hook not being securely fastened. At the time of the incident, the supervisor had gone to the doghouse and was not on the rig floor. The operator was at the controls of the rig platform, and did not witness the accident.

Keywords: ATTACHMENT HOOK, SHOULDER, UNSECURED, TRAVELLING BLOCK, WORK RULES, OIL WELL SERVICING, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, OIL RIG