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

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish to each of his employees a place of employment which was 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 hazard of being struck by drill pipe: On or about 15 Sep 09, the employer did not ensure that there was adequate communications between personnel on the "monkey" board and the driller located at the controls on the drill floor, to alert the driller about potential hazards observed from above the drill floor. This exposed employees on the drill floor to being struck by unsecured drill pipe. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard would be to: install a communication system between the drill floor and the monkey boards that would allow derrickhands to notify the driller that drill pipe was hung up under one of the beams in the derrick and to stop lifting the pipe. DISCLAIMERS: 1)You are not limited to the abatement methods suggested above. 2)The methods explained are general and may not be effective in all cases. 3) The employer is responsible for selecting and carrying out an appropriate method.