Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1453205.015 - Cowboy Crane Service

Inspection Information - Office: Bismarck Area Office

Investigation Summary

On October 15, 2019, an employee was working for a firm that provided support activities for oil and gas operations. He was a member of a machinery maintenance crew performing a "tag and lift" procedure on a well. "Tagging" is the industry term for touching the top of the down-hole pump with the end of the rod string. Doing so increased well efficiency when the down-hole pump had been infiltrated by sand or other debris. Tapping the broke loose the debris. To contact the pump, the crew moved the polished rod clamps up, allowing the rod string to go deeper into the well. After the tagging had been done, the crew lifted the rod string out of tag and spaced the bottom of the rod string a specified distance from the pump by positioning the clamps above the carrier bar. The pumping unit was used to raise the string high out of the well. A clamp was placed on the polished rod above the stuffing box, transferring the load of the rod string to the clamp. The pumping unit head was then lowered, and the clamps above the carrier bar were adjusted to an appropriate location on the polished rod. During this procedure, the load of the string was entirely supported by the lower clamp. In this incident, the employee was using a tape measure to measure the spacing of the polished rod clamps above the carrier bar on a Lufkin beam pumping unit. The Wellhead Systems Inc. lower clamp supporting the axial load of the rod string gave way, and the string dropped into the well. The employee's hands, between the upper polished rod clamp and the load cell, were crushed between the clamp and the carrier bar. The employee was hospitalized, and fingers on both hands were later surgically amputated. The bottom of the lower top clamp was approximately 7 feet (2.1 meters) from the ground and 18 inches (0.46 meters) above the load cell before falling. The company owner said that the company had not instructed workers in the torque requirements of the clamps or provided them with torque wrenches.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Clamp, Crushed, Drill, Drill Bit, Equipment Failure, Falling Object, Gas Well, Gas Well Drilling, Hand Tool, Maintenance, Oil Well Drilling, Oil Well Drilling/Servicing, Oil Well Servicing, Struck By, Surgical Amputation, Training, Untrained, Wrench