Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: STRUCK BY

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: (a) On or about 06/15/01 at a McMullan ANF-1 #5 oil lease in Crockett County Texas a foam air unit operator was exposed to the following hazards of being struck by pressurized equipment and high pressure foam in that: 1. Workers were standing near a discharge line under pressure that struck and killed the pumper and the high pressure foam struck and injured the tool man. 2. Pump truck operator was not at the designated position to shut down the pump and no one else was trained to shut down the pump in case of an emergency. 3. The discharge line was not securely anchored and was not laid as straight as possible without tee, elbows and other restrictions. Among other feasible and useful methods to abate these hazards, one method would be to implement the following procedures: 1) Restrict access to high pressure lines to only essential personnel, and do not permit the valves to be operated while pumping well fluids into the well, 2) Designate a qualified operator to be ready to disengage the pumps at the operating station in case of emergency, 3) Anchor the discharge lines to prevent displacement and/or rotation.