Posts Tagged oilfield worker

Drills Can Be Deadly; Take All Precautions

Posted by proforma on January 18, 2012  |  No Comments

This MODU life boat launch drill turned deadly when the MODU plunged 60 feet into the water, killing one and injuring six. This video appeared on the Drilling Ahead World Oilfield Network.


Grating Can Pinch Fingers

Posted by proforma on November 21, 2011  |  No Comments

Pinched fingers may not seem life threatening, but represent the kinds of injuries that are completely avoidable if the correct tools are made available. In this instance, an offshore maintenance worker injured his fingers while moving a 3 ft. by 3 ft. floor grating. The after action review found this had become a common practice at this installation.

Lead in Pipe Dope Can Contaminate Workers’ Homes

Posted by proforma on July 24, 2011  |  No Comments

Pipe dope, found at many oilfield sites, is a threading compound that often contains high amounts of lead. Not only is the lead dangerous for oilfield workers; they also transport the lead home where children can be exposed.

Pipe dope is difficult to remove from clothing and can be transferred to the employee’s car or home. According to this article in EHS, using oil-resistant gloves can help avoid contamination, as will washing your hands, showering at the workplace and changing clothes after handling pipe dope. Work clothes should not be washed with the family’s laundry.

Better yet, lead free pipe dope should be substituted.

Whole Lotta Shaking Loosens Equipment on Derrick

Posted by proforma on July 5, 2011  |  No Comments

Everything on the derrick floor should be carefully inspected to ensure it’s properly retained, and all equipment, whether temporary or permanent, should have secondary retention. That’s the learning from this incident, in which a speaker was shaken loose from the back of the monkey board, breaking loose from its mounting post.

NOPSA Reports Increase in Accidents or Dangerous Occurences in 2010

Posted by proforma on September 17, 2010  |  No Comments

Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) has reported the number of accidents or dangerous occurrences increased by 13 precent at offshore Australia oil and gas facilities between January and June 2010. In its Offshore Health and Safety Performance Report for June 2010, NOPSA reported the most common root causes for incidents over the past five years were procedures not followed, preventive maintenance and design specifications. For details, click here.

Floorman Killed on Monkey Board in Avoidable Accident

Posted by proforma on July 1, 2010  |  No Comments

A floorman was struck in the abdomen by either the drill pipe or winch wire and later died of his injuries. In this report, the cause was attributed to a number of factors, including poor communication, lack of competency and inadequate risk assessment.

Life Hangs by a Thread…Or Carabiner

Posted by proforma on April 29, 2010  |  No Comments

carabinerSomething as small as a carabiner can make the difference between safe and unsafe operations. In this case, a crew member in a man-riding harness was connected by carabiner to the tugger, operated by another crew member. As the crew member began lowering — holding a cement hose with his right arm — the carabiner broke. The worker fell to the rig floor, but used the cement hose to slow his descent and land on his feet. Upon investigation, it was determined that the carabiner failed because the gate was unlocked, and the gate was unlocked because dirt was lodged in the gate mechanism. For details, view this NOPSA report.

Safety Alert for Spring Return Valves

Posted by proforma on April 6, 2010  |  No Comments

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has just issued a safety alert for spring return valves used in offshore oil operations. Recently, a pipeline emergency shut down valve (ESDV) failed, leaving the primary platform isolation device inoperable with the valve in the open position.
Other ESDVs have been found to be at risk for similar failures, as are spring return valves other than ESDVs.

Standardized, Fleet-wide Hand Signals Help Avoid Miscommunication

Posted by proforma on April 6, 2010  |  No Comments

Here’s another instance where miscommunication resulted in a dangerous workplace situation: A floorman signals a crewman using hand signals different from what the crewman was accustomed to. Instead of opening the valves to fill the trip tank, the crewman disengaged the auxiliary brake handle; the drawworks brakes overheated,  the driller could not stop the blocks, which then ran into the top drive rail stops. Among the causes cited were the lack of standardized hand signals and understanding of the rig operation and systems.

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