Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 002 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: Well site: On or about October 13, 2011, an employee was working in the mast mounted rod basket on a service rig during the reworking of an oil/gas well where the secondary/emergency means of egress system was not completely installed. The escape device was not at the employee's work level and the ground end of system was not anchored preventing the employee from making timely egress from the rig mast. This exposed the employee to the hazards of explosion and fire, falling, and being struck by falling rig components. The America Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice for Occupational Safety for Oil and Gas Well Drilling and Servicing Operations, RP54, 6.10.1 requires that an auxiliary means of escaped be installed on rig mast/derrick ant that it provides a ready and convenient means of escaped rom the derrickman's working platform. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard is to assure that the escape system is located at the employee's work elevation and that the system is installed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.s