Inspection Detail

Inspection: 303645535 - Glenn Supply Company, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Oklahoma City Area Office

Investigation Summary

On August 1, 2001, Employee #1 and several other employees were drilling for oil. The crew had begun work on the Forster #1 lease on July 29, 2001, planning to complete the recently drilled well. On July 30, 2001, the well was perforated and on July 31, 2001, the well was acidized. After the chemical was put in the well and allowed to act, the service crew started swabbing the acid out of the well. The service crew had made five or six trips with the swab and was again running the swab down the well when the wire-rope sand line, from which the swab was suspended, parted. The swab had not reached the fluid level when the line failed. The sand line was just unwinding off of the sand drum and was going down the well when it failed. The following day, on August 1, 2001, tubing was delivered to the location and a fishing tool was run into the well on the tubing to "fish" the broken wire rope and swab out of the well. The sand line was caught by the fishing tool and raised to the surface. A pulley block was connected to the traveling block of the rig. The broken-off end of the sand line was run through the pulley block and the pulley block was elevated about 15 ft. The end of the broken section of the sand line that had been in the well was run through the opening in the tow bar on the front of the 1975 Chevrolet pick-up truck. The wire rope clips were attached to hold the sand line around the tow bar. The tow bar was fabricated from a 0.75-in. sucker rod and a metal plate. The primary function of the tow bar was as a connection so that the pick-up could be pulled. The pick-up was backed down a hill with workers positioned along the length of the sand line to pass instructions to the pick-up driver. When the pick-up was about 350 ft from the well, the tow bar separated from the pick-up truck. The weight of the swab and sand line, which was still in the well began pulling the sand line back toward the well and caused it to accelerate. The sand line was about 850 ft of 5/8-in. wire rope. The workers along the line attempted to stop the line by standing on it, but were not successful. Employee #1 was near the crest of the hill. As the end of the sand line neared the crest, it was whipping around violently. At this time, Employee #1 was running toward the well, apparently intending to take some action to stop the sand line. At some point, the sand line looped around Employee #1, and pulled him to the well. Once there, the sand line pulled Employee #1 up in the air as it ran through the pulley block. When Employee #1 approached this block, the loop around him tightened and cut his legs off as it went through the opening in the pulley block. Employee #1 subsequently died.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, WIRE ROPE, WORK RULES, OIL WELL DRILLING, CAUGHT BY, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, OIL RIG, LEG