Inspection Detail

Inspection: 311067292 - Paul Graham Drilling

Inspection Information - Office: High Hazard Unit - Central

Investigation Summary

At 9:00 a.m. on August 23, 2007, Employee #1, a general laborer at a drill site, was working on a job to refurbish a natural gas well. The drill rig at the site belonged to Paul Graham Drilling and was located in a rice field at Venoco Well and Grimes Operating Unit Number 32-33-1, near Meridian, California. The license plate Number of the Drilling rig was 3J1Y717. Employee #1 was standing on the top of the primary wire-rope drill spool used to hoist casing and was moving a small gage wire rope (the sand line). The sand line was adjacent to the primary large-gauge wire-rope drill spool on the rig. Another employee, a drill operator who was involved in the accident, stated that he was walking to the primary controls for the drill rig when he slipped on the platform grate. Another employee reached out towards the drill rig controls to prevent him from falling. He grabbed the knob operating the clutch, which activated the main drill spool. At that time, Employee # 1 was standing on the wire ropes of the sand line and main drill line. The wire rope on the drill spools moved backward and wrapped Employee #1 into the sand line. Concurrently, Employee #1 also got his leg pinned against a structural steel member of the main drill spool, which severely bent his leg back. Employee #1's version of events stated that another worker was not paying attention to Employee #1's activities while operating the controls on the main drill spool. In any event, another employee operated the main drill spool without noticing Employee #1. Employee #1 sustained a broken femur, a hip displacement, and nonspecific internal injuries.

Keywords: FRACTURE, ROTATING PARTS, DRILL OPERATOR, WIRE ROPE, PINNED, CAUGHT BY, HIP, OIL RIG, INATTENTION, LEG