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 struck-by hazards and/or fire and explosion: On or about March 2nd, 2005, while employees of Mercer Well service were installing tubing into the well and the well blew out. Some feasible methods of abatement include, but are not limited to: a) Assure as far as possible that appropriate well control equipment and procedures are in place and maintained as Mercer operations are initiated and conducted. Such control procedures may include: 1) Assure that appropriated blow-out prevention devices have been installed,inspected, and tested following guidance provided in American Petroleum Institute's Recommended Practice 54, Section 6.4, dated 1999. 2) Conduct periodic drills on the appropriate activation of blow-out prevention devices and other emergency procedures. 3) Assess the status of previously installed control devices, such as but not limited to verifying the location/installation of packers, prior to initiating Mercer operations. b) Control ignition sources near the well head and all other points where flammable mixtures may be present. Guidance can be found in the American Petroleum Institute's Recommended Practice 54, 1999. c) Develop and implement written procedures ensuring communication between Mercer personnel and other employers/business entities at well sites so that Mercer is very familiar with the type and limits of the control devices present and the emergency procedures employed by others at the site.