Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Nabors Drilling Technologies USA Inc., 128th Ave NW & 46th St NW, WILLISTON, NORTH DAKOTA 58801
on — Fractures , affecting the Rib(s), oblique area.
Final narrative
An employee was removing tubulars from a mousehole but the slips did not release from the tubular until it was raised. When the slips released, they slid down the tubular and struck the employee in the head. The employee sustained a back injury, a head laceration, and a fractured rib.
Hospitalized Rib(s), oblique area Machine and tool parts, accessories n.e.c.
More severe injuries at Nabors Drilling Technologies USA Inc.
An employee was inserting drilling slips in a wellbore. The drill pipe separated, moved within the wellbore, and struck the employee's head. The employee suffered head trauma.
An employee was applying thread protector covers and moving the floor wrench into a stow position so they could lay pipe down. The wrench crushed the employee's hand between the wrench housing and a pipe.
An employee connected a pipe elevator to a drill string. The pipe elevator unlatched while the string was being lifted. The elevator struck the employee causing a fracture and dislocation to their right elbow. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was climbing the derrick girt to perform work on a cover. As they went to tie off the top drive, the driller came down with the top drive pulling the employee off the girt and onto the top drive. The employee sustained fractures to the pelvis and tailbone.
An employee was picking up a 5-foot, 950-pound pneumatic cylinder (mud bucket) by the handle to move it. The employee was positioning the bucket for use when their left arm became caught between it and an iron roughneck. The employee was hospitalized with compartment syndrome that required surgery.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was helping to move a 1,300-pound coil on a cart. The steel caster hit a crack in the concrete, the weld holding the caster onto the cart broke, and the coil and cart tipped over onto the employee. He was hospitalized with a laceration on his forehead and a pelvic fracture on his right side.
An employee was attempting to lift a steel beam from a horizontal, stacked position to a vertical position using a crane. They had placed two hooks on the east side of the beam on the flange. As the employee was hoisting the crane, the beam began to shift and pulled the employee forward onto the stack. When the material shifted, the hooks released and the material fell, pinning the employee between the two beams. The employee was hospitalized with soft tissue contusions on their proximal right thigh and interior left thigh.
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
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 on the ground working to close a trailer door. The door was caught by the wind and blew the employee backward. He landed on his back and sustained four fractured ribs, requiring hospitalization.
An employee was walking on top of boiler to close a valve. The employee fell off the boiler and landed on the floor, sustaining fractured ribs. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was exiting a loader and coming down the ladder. His hand slipped off the railing and he fell backward onto sandy ground, landing on his side. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and a rotator cuff tear.