Explosion of pressure vessel, piping, or tire · Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Cactus Drilling Company, 23 miles West of Orla, ORLA, TEXAS 79770
on — Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury, affecting the lower leg(s).
Final narrative
A hose, pressurized at 9,000 psi, ruptured while being tested. An employee's left tibia was injured.
An employee was removing a hose from a mud pump with a crescent wrench when the wrench slipped off the nut and his hands were mashed between the wrench and pump.
A crew was installing a top drive track during a rig move when it became hung up on a girt. The top drive track was freed and whipped, striking an employee in the head. The employee suffered broken right cheek bones, a broken jaw bone, and a right shoulder injury.
An employee was slipping new drilling line when his right hand got caught in the sheave resulting in the amputation of four fingers. The thumb was not affected.
An employee was using an air compressor on a multi-wheel tire when the flange and the tire burst, causing the wheel's lock ring to strike the employee in the face. He sustained a laceration and facial fractures.
An employee was changing the connection to a compressed nitrogen tank when the system failed and exploded. One employee suffered a concussion and was hospitalized. The other employee sustained soft tissue injuries that did not require hospitalization.
An employee was putting air in a tire that was mounted on a customer's vehicle when the tire exploded, resulting in a left arm fracture that required hospitalization.
On October 24, 2023, at 12:00 PM, an employee was visually checking a gauge on the "U" controller when a pressure tank exploded. The employee was hospitalized with multiple facial fractures and required surgery.
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.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.