Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC, Rig 570, STONEWALL, LOUISIANA 71078
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was removing a thread protector off the end of an alloy when the alloy shifted and pinched their finger between it and the catwalk. The employee sustained an open fracture of the left index finger and a fingertip amputation.
AmputationFingertip(s)Bars, rods, reinforcing bar (rebar)
More severe injuries at Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC
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 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.
A driver was exiting his vehicle outside the plant gate when his foot slipped on the top step of the truck. He fell to the ground, landed on his left hip and elbow. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured hip/femur.
A security employee was responding to an urgent call from staff regarding a violent patient. The employee tripped and fell on the floor outside of the stairwell. The employee sustained a closed head injury, contusion of the cerebrum without loss of consciousness, and a closed fracture of the distal end of the right radius.
A temporary employee was testing an electrical starter motor. He was placing tape on the starter while the breaker was not engaged, but the starter sent an arc flash that burned his hands and stomach.
An employee was walking on a sidewalk and stubbed his toe on an elevated portion of concrete, causing him to trip and fall. The employee's right knee was dislocated.