Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 005 Hazard: CRUSHING

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 likely to cause death or serious physical harm to the employees in that employees were exposed to struck by and crushing hazards: a.Drilling site - Employees were exposed to potential struck by and crushing hazards, such as but not limited to, rig collapse and derrick board failure when working on or around the drilling rig and derrick board while drilling for natural gas. The employer did not perform adequate periodic inspections to maintain the derrick board in a safe condition in that, internal corrosion reduced the wall thickness to approximately 75 percent of its original thickness, as determined on 04/17/08. NOTE: Among other methods, one or more feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this hazard would be to establish and to enforce accepted safe practices by a) maintaining the derrick and mast platforms above the rig floor in a safe condition to withstand the weight of personnel and other stresses which may be placed on them, (API) 54 para. 9.2.1, and para. 9.2.12, b) perform periodic inspections to include non-destructive testing to determine the internal corrosion of critical parts, and maintain dated inspection reports ASME B30.6.