OPG Safety Alert 209
This safety alert is passed along to help people avoid similar fatal accidents…
SAFETY ALERT NO. 209: | ||
Country: AUSTRALIA | ||
Location: ONSHORE : Mobile Drilling Unit | ||
Release Date: 6 December 2008 | Time incident occurred: — | |
Type of Activity: Lifting, crane, rigging, deck operations | ||
Type of Injury: Struck by | Function: Drilling | |
Applicabale Filter Categories: Struck by,Vehicle incident | ||
A swamper was walking behind the pole truck in the “danger zone” and tripped as the truck was backing up with the load. The worker was fatally injured when the vehicle drove over him. NOTE: This alert was submitted to Enform following a recent fatality; however this is not an isolated incident. Five similar fatalities have been identified in the oil and gas industry over the past two years. These are summarized on page three of this alert. June 2008 – A drilling rig was being moved to a rack site. On the second day of the job, with approximately a dozen loads left to transport off the site, a pole truck driver and his swamper were relocating a grated landing across the lease. A 4-leg sling was secured to each corner of the landing and it was raised off the ground with the pole truck winch. The load was not secured to the truck and tag lines were not used to control the suspended load. The driver proceeded to move the landing in reverse at a walking speed. At some point in the move, the swamper entered into the danger zone at the back of the truck to stabilize and guide the suspended load. Halfway across the lease, the swamper stumbled, lost his balance and fell down directly in the path of the rear wheels of the pole truck. Neither the driver nor the swamper were able to react quickly enough to avoid having the rear passenger side tires drive over the swamper’s legs and mid torso. | ||
What Went Wrong?:Causal Analysis:
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Corrective actions and Recommendations:We Can Prevent Similar Incidents
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Other Recent Contact with Mobile Equipment Fatalities: January 2007 A 47-year old worker, employed as a plant operator, was assisting a truck driver hook up a trailer. He was run over by the tractor unit. Based on Alberta WHS Fatality Report: WHS-PUB_FR-2007-01-20 Link: http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-PUB_FR-2007-01-20.pdf March 2007 A 31-year old worker, employed as a medic, was guiding a truck driver who was reversing a tank truck with an attached pup when the worker was pinned between the pup and another piece of equipment. Based on Alberta WHS Fatality Report: WHS-PUB_FR-2007-03-11Link: http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-PUB_FR-2007-03-11.pdf November 2007 A 43-year old worker, employed as a truck driver, was in the process of helping load an empty 400 lb oil storage tank onto a flat bed truck and got pinned between the tank and the truck. Based on Workplace Incident Fatalities Investigated in 2007 by Alberta Workplace Health and Safety (Page 5) Link: http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-PUB_wpfatal_2007.pdf January 2008 A 38-year old worker was fatally injured when he became pinned against an oilfield tank by the pressure truck he was operating. The truck was accidently put into gear by the worker who was immediately outside the truck. The truck moved forward and pinned the worker against the tank. Based on Workplace Incident Fatalities Investigated in 2008 by Alberta Workplace Health and Safety (Page 2) Link: http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-PUB_wpfatal_2008.pdf August 2008 A 20 year-old worker was run over by a truck while he was helping a fellow employee to back up the truck. Based on Workplace Incident Fatalities Accepted by the Workers Compensation Board in 2008 (Page 5) Link:http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-PUB_wpfatal_wcb_2008.pdf | ||
Source Contact:This alert is being distributed via a partnership between the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (http://www.ogp.org.uk/) and Enform (http://www.enform.ca/). | ||
18 May 2009 |

