Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310455225 - Caliber Casing Service

Inspection Information - Office: Utah Division Of Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:22 p.m. on April 5, 2007, an employee and coworkers were performing work on Patterson UTI Number 51 at a remote drilling location known as Rockhouse 11-23-24-02, in SW Section 21 South 23 east Range. They had finished laying down all the tubulars, Drill Pipe and Drill Collars, and were engaged in the process known as rigging around their lay down machine. Upon completing the rigging around process, the employee and coworkers would be able to load casing into the pipe trough and raise it to the drill floor where it could be inserted into the hole. They were experiencing problems securing the lifting arms back onto the trough after switching them from one side to the other, completing the rig around. It was stated that there was not enough room between the securing point of trough and the attachments that were sitting on the cat walk. It was decided by the employee and the coworkers that the operator would mechanically move the trough forward, giving more room to tighten the bolt and secure the pin. It was stated that the lay down machine operator attempted to move the trough forward upon receiving hand signals from the employee while he was on the catwalk. On the second attempt, the pipe trough came off the attachments and slide down onto the lay down arms. At this point the employee was inside of the unprotected attached frame work. As the pipe trough slide down, the employee was caught between the frame work and the 2,000 lbs trough. It was stated that coworkers attempted to help push the trough back up the lay down arm, off the employee and were unable, as the pipe trough continued to slide off, it pushed the employee out of the unprotected attached frame work, flip him backwards on to the ground and the pipe trough landed on his head, resulting in fatal injuries.

Keywords: HEAD, HOISTING MECHANISM, CRUSHED, TROUGH, PIPE