Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Crushing injuries
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Co., Watkins County and 295, WATKINS, COLORADO 80137
on — Crushing injuries, affecting the hand(s) and finger(s).
Final narrative
An employee was lowering a blowout preventer (BOP) into position. He placed his hand on top of a stud on the BOP flange while the BOP was being lowered. The stud became hung up and bottomed out on the pipe ram body, smashing his left hand. His left middle finger and knuckle were crushed and required surgery. Impact gloves were worn at the time of the incident.
HospitalizedHand(s) and finger(s)Valves, nozzles
More severe injuries at Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Co.
An employee was in the basket of an aerial work platform pressure washing a shaker roof. While rotating the wand, an unexpected pressure release occurred. The wand was one inch from his right knee and injected him with fluid at 2,900 PSI.
Employees were rigging down. The injured employee was hooking up a flow line to a manifold. When he stepped back, he fell through a gap in the floor of the shaker, landing on his head on the ground about 12 feet below. He suffered multiple skull fractures and bleeding on the brain and was hospitalized.
An employee was guiding the first joint of casing into a conductor in a cellar area. A centralizer (secured around a pipe) was pushed through the rotary table. The centralizer slid down the pipe and caught the employee's left ring finger against the collar on the casing. The employee's left ring fingertip was amputated.
An employee was attaching a tong to a pipe when his left leg was caught in the tong pull line and the drill string, resulting in a left leg amputation.
A crew was in the process of putting a sub-spreader beam in place so that they could raise the rig floor. An employee's hand was resting on the spreader beam when the derrick hand pulled the beam from its stowed position. The employee's small finger was then caught between the spreader beam and the sub leg, amputating his fingertip.
An employee was operating a forklift and unloading a truck. After the truck was unloaded, the employee got off the forklift and proceeded to adjust the dock plate with a hook tool. The dock plate slipped and the employee went to adjust the plate with their hand when their left middle finger got caught. Their finger was amputated above the first joint.
An employee was rotating a carbide granulator blade when his finger was caught between the blade and a stationary part of the machine. The employee's right middle finger was partially amputated and they suffered an avulsion to the right ring fingertip.
An employee was using a CNC metal lathe machine in manual mode to check that the thread blocking tool made contact with the jaws. As the employee was manually spinning the spindle, his index fingertip was crushed between the spindle's jaws and the grooving insert, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
During a material handling operation, an employee's fingertip was caught under an air conditioning unit as the unit was lowered onto a cart. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was removing a bolt from a tractor hub when their right index finger was caught between the hub and the frame. The employee's fingertip was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 213111)
An employee was stepping down off a 6-inch containment platform to finish loading his truck, when his right ankle rolled. The employee sustained a fractured tibia and fibula at the right ankle and required surgery.
A service crew was pulling a pump and motor from a well. After breaking a joint of pipe loose from another joint, an employee grabbed the chain tongs to prevent the pipe from spinning in the well, so the crew could continue taking it apart. The bolt that attaches the chain to the handle of the chain tongs broke, causing the chain to swing around and strike the employee's lower right leg. The chain severely punctured his leg and fractured his tibia.
An employee arrived on location and loaded a blow-out-preventer (BOP) on a 1-ton flatbed truck. While standing on the flatbed securing the the BOP, the employee stepped into a void/hole on the flatbed surface. This caused him to lose balance and fall off the truck bed with his leg still caught in the hole. As a result, he sustained fractures to his left leg.
An employee was rigging up a location. He was using an Allen wrench to free up rotation and start the drawworks engine manually. The engine rotated and his left little finger became caught between the Allen wrench and the engine. The employee sustained an amputation to his little finger and fractures to his wrist.
An employee was delivering materials. He was doing his pre-delivery inspection on the roof of the jobsite (a warehouse) when he fell through a plexiglass skylight. He landed on his feet on the concrete floor 14 feet below. The employee sustained fractures to his spine, left ulnar/radius, and right heel. The employee required surgery.
An employee was removing packaging from a roll of printing substrate. The blade of their utility knife got stuck. The employee used both hands to free the knife and the blade partially amputated their left little fingertip.
A concrete batch plant operator was assisting with clearing spoil piles using a skid steer. The skid steer backed into a stationary screen plant. The employee's left little finger was crushed between the controls of the skid steer and the screen plant, resulting in a fracture and laceration. The employee's finger was surgically amputated.
An employee was standing on an extension ladder, using a torquing tool to remove bolts that secured blades to a rotor. When the torquing tool activated, its reaction arm came around and pinched the employee's right middle finger against a lifting eye. His fingertip was amputated.