Inspection Detail

Inspection: 311678676 - S.W. Jack Drilling Company

Inspection Information - Office: Charleston Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 6:35 p.m. on April 17, 2008, two employees were fatally injured when struck by a collapsing mast/derrick. This was a Rambler type rig, Rig #21, with a 62-foot derrick/mast. Four employees came onsite at approximately 1:20 p.m. to start working the afternoon shift (2 p.m. to 10 p.m.). Employee #1 was the driller. Employee #2 was the floor hand/chain hand, and he was also the brother of Employee #1. Employee #3 was a floor hand/chain hand. Employee #4 was the diary hand. Employee #5, the tool pusher, was already onsite when the other four employees from the afternoon shift arrived. At approximately 1:30 p.m. the shift started making two connections in the well hole. The hole was already at 6,606 feet at this time, with the final depth of the hole being 7,100 feet. This was a new well, and the company was drilling for gas. After making the two connections, Employee #1 started tripping out and cleaning out the hole. This lasted until approximately 3 p.m. The company had already installed 102 stands of drilling pipe in the fingers on the rig floor. At approximately 3:10 p.m. Employee #1 told Employees #2 and #3 to hook up the jet to the hole. The jet was being used to blow out bits, water, and air from the well hole, through the flow line of the blowout preventer. This process lasted until approximately 5:30 p.m. There were no problems with the hole. While the hole was being blown out, Employees #3 and #4 had checked the status of the guy lines, ensuring that the cables were tight. Guy lines were located on the front and back sections of the rig. One of the front guy lines was connected to the rear section of the pipe tub and the other front guy line was connected to the dead man stake. The dead man stake consisted of two sets of two metal cross bars, with a small piece of metal pipe located on the top middle section of the cross bar, and another small piece of metal pipe located on the ground, underneath the middle section of the cross bars. The cable was then wrapped around both of the small metal pipes. The dead man stake itself was located above ground, or it was not buried in the ground. The two back guy lines were connected to the corners on the booster. One guy line was connected to the rear left hand side of the booster, while the other back guy line was connected to the rear corner on the right side of the booster. A geronimo line was also installed. At approximately 5:45 p.m. Employee #1 started tripping in the hole. Employee #5 had just left the worksite. Employee #4 was located on the derrick/mast, with his body harness on. Employees #2 and #3 were both located on the ground, or off of the rig floor. At approximately 6:35 p.m. the derrick/mast collapsed, while Employee #3 was still on the derrick/mast. Employee #2 was struck as the derrick/mast hit the ground.

Keywords: DERRICK, COLLAPSE, SAFETY BELT, OIL RIG MAST, STRUCK BY, OIL RIG