Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: UNAPEQUIP

cc: YALE E. KEY INC. ATTN: MR. MAX EMMERT P.O. BOX DRAWER 16627 MIDLAND, TX 79702 Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to: Employees were involved in a well-head fire/explosion (at the T.H.S.U. #281, 24 miles S. E. of Midland, Texas, as did occur on March 8, 1993) that resulted in the fatal injury of an employee, and the employee representative (rig operator), aware o funsafe conditions created by another empployer on site, but unsure of his authority/responsibility, failed to ensure/insist that these conditions were corrected before allowing work to continue. Conditions were vehicles parked too close to the well face (one was eight feet from the well), vehicle parked downwind (one was nearly directly downwind) and sources of ignition not kept at least one hundred feet from well head (vehicle radio operating in vehicle parked eight feet from well). Among other methods, one feasible and accpetable method to abate these conditions would be for the employer to meet with and arive at an agreement with other employers affected, as appropriate, to ensure that employers and their representatives (as a minimum) realized full well their authority/responsibility to stop work and request/insist that any such unsafe conditions were corrected/abated before authorizing work to commence.