Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1568681.015 - Kings Oil Tools, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Bakersfield District Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:45 p.m. on Jyly 20, 2021, a an employee working as a cement pump operator for an oil and gas well drilling contractor was operating a cement mud pump unit. The employee was part of a crew performing a well abandonment. The employee started running water through the pumping unit when he noticed that water was leaking from all three of the plungers in the triplex unit. While the plunger was still energized, the employee used an 18-inch-long rod to tighten the packing nut on the farthest plunger. The rod slipped out of the hole in the nut and his right hand fell in the pinch point created by the moving plunger and the packing nut closest to him. The employee received medical treatment without hospitalization for an amputated middle fingertip.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Caught Between, Concrete Pump, Drilling, Energized, Finger, Fingertip, Gas Well Drilling, Hand, Instantaneous amputation, Leak, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Oil Well Drilling, Oil Well Drilling/Servicing, Partial Amputation, Pinch Point, Pinched, Pump, Slip, Slippery Surface, Traumatic Amputation, Water