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 the condition(s) listed below: The employer does not protect each employee from struck by hazards by ensuring ground anchors are pull tested prior to the commencement of work. This violation was most recently observed on August 24, 2005, at Chock's Inc. Rig 7, Means Field, Means Unit 8-10, Andrews County, where well servicing operations had begun without the anchors being tested. American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice RP 54 Paragraph 6.3.2 states: "Well Operations involving the rig shall not be commenced until the rig is rigged up in a safe manner." API RP 4G Paragraph 7.2 states: "The capacity of each anchor should be verified within 24 months prior to commencing work and should be rechecked if changes occur that would decrease the capacity of the anchor." Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard would be to verify the capacity of each anchor within 24 months prior to commencing work in accordance with the requirements as set forth in American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice API RP 4G, Second Edition dated Oct 1998 Paragraphs 7.1 through 7.8.ugh