Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects, unspecified · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC, Rig 561, CARTHAGE, TEXAS 75633
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was trying to untangle a chain from the trough of a catwalk. A winch was connected to the chain. The winch activated and the employee's hand became caught between the edge of the catwalk trough and the hook from the winch, amputating the employee's finger and thumb.
On September 18, 2025, an employee was descending stairs on a rig floor when he fell on the third step from the top and landed on his right foot, which then turned inward. The employee suffered a fracture that required hospitalization.
An employee was standing on a piece of equipment called a K-brace, approximately 3.5 feet off the ground. He was working to assemble part of the K-brace. He was driving a metal pin with a sledgehammer and put the sledgehammer on the ground. He then hopped off the K-brace backward and struck the handle of the sledgehammer as he came to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with a laceration to his left buttocks and a fractured tailbone.
An employee fell onto a rig floor while a stand of drill pipe was being moved nearby. The employee had just braced himself, putting his hand out in front of him, when the stand of pipe was set down on the floor. It crushed the employee's left ring finger, resulting in an amputation to the finger.
An employee was standing on the ground while rolling a pony sub from the forks of a forklift onto a catwalk. The sub shifted and fell approximately two feet onto the top of their right safety boot. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured foot that required surgery.
Two employees were carrying a drill bit and installation tool to the center of a drilling rig floor. One of them slipped and fell, and the drill bit and installation tool landed on his left hand. He suffered an open fracture and partial amputation of the last joint of the little finger, as well as a laceration to the ring finger.
An employee was changing mud cups in the hopper cylinders of a concrete pump truck. The cylinders moved and three of the employees fingers were amputated.
An employee was standing on the rig floor next to a polishing unit. His hand was placed on the polishing unit when the pump was lowered, resulting in amputation of their right thumb, ring, and middle fingertips.
An employee was using air to blow out the air wash to the blender and grinder station. As the employee reached to verify that the air wash was clean, the unit pinched and amputated their fingertip.
An employee was retrieving a lost drill pipe with a lifting bail when their left thumb got pinched between the table and handle of the lifting bail while trying to re-thread the pipe to lift it out. The employee suffered an amputation to the left thumb.
An employee was removing a core chuck from a stationary roll when their right ring finger was pinched between the chuck and the roll. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
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.