Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: EXPLOSION

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: a) The hazard of and inability of employees of Farrar Oil Field Service & Equipment Co., Inc. to escape the work site for work over & rig #4 in the event of intermittent or controlled eruptions of hydrogen sulfide and/or other flammable/combustible hydrocarbon gases from the R. & H. - Travis #3 Oil/Gas Well, which is known to have the produced hydrogen sulfide and/or hydrocarbon gases, due to there being no system present to warn employees of toxic or explosive levels of such gases. This occurred throughout the period between 4/24/90 to 5/29/90 at this well which is located in Section 6, TION, R9W, Jasper County, Mississippi. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable method to correct this hazard would be the installation of a continuous environmental monitoring system which would have sensors to detect the presence of hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other hydrocarbon gases and which would automatically activate alarms which would alert employees to the danger. This warning would allow only personnel essential to well control operations to remain on location to initiate the emergency action plan, as specified in Section 3.2 through 3.4 of A.P.I. RP-49: Recommended Practices for Safe Drilling of Wells Containing Hydrogen Sulfide, Second Edition, 4/15/87, and by Rule #66, Section 5, Paragraph (b)(1)- (b)(1)(i) of the State Oil and Gas Board, State of Mississippi, revised 7/1/86.