Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at National Oilwell Varco, 12000 W Little York Rd., HOUSTON, TEXAS 77091
on — Fractures , affecting the Ankle(s).
Final narrative
An employee was relocating rigging and the rigging chains did not clear a piston puller. The piston puller was caught in the rigging and pulled over. It tipped over and landed on his left ankle, fracturing it. The employee was hospitalized for surgery.
HospitalizedAmputation Ankle(s) Gripping and turning handtools n.e.c.
Three employees were assembling a mast for a mobile rig derrick. Each of the two sections are approximately 60 feet long. The lower mast was positioned on stands. The upper mast was supported by an overhead crane. The injured employee was standing at the base on the lower mast behind the winch skid. He was using a crane and a winch that is mounted on a forklift skid to slide the top mast into the lower mast. The upper section of the mast became misaligned and the force from the crane and winch operations caused the mast to shift 4 feet. This caused the winch skid to shift 4 feet back as well, pinning the employee's left foot between the base of the winch and the base of the forklift mast. The employee sustained two fractures in his foot.
On January 22, 2024, an employee was leaving the building through the front door. When the employee stepped on the outside door mat, he fell, sustaining fractures to his right hip and femur.
An employee had just completed grinding on a 1,300-pound rotor using a pneumatic grinder. They were attempting to manually push the rotor on a cart out of the workstation when the retractable air hose created an obstruction under the wheel of the cart. The employee went to push the cart over the obstruction when the cart and rotor became unstable, tipping over and striking the employee on the left foot. They sustained multiple foot fractures that required hospitalization and surgery.
Two employees were working in a shop, repairing a piece of oilfield equipment known as an active heave drawworks (AHD) drum shaft. As one of them was inserting the bolt, the drum rotated, his crescent wrench slipped from its position, and his left hand was pinched between the wrench and the frame of the equipment. His index fingertip was amputated.
An employee was pulling a steel parts handcart when its wheels caught on something and locked up. The cart fell backward. The cart handle struck the middle of the employee's right foot, breaking bones. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was manually moving a tall cart filled with pints of ice cream within the facility. While transferring the cart toward the exterior of the receiving area, the cart passed over a floor drainage grate, became unstable, and fell toward the employee, pinning him underneath. The cart and its contents landed on his lower right leg, resulting in multiple fractures.
An employee was re-arranging boxes of pipe insulation on a pallet. One of the boxes fell from the pallet and knocked over an upright empty cylinder. The cylinder fell and crushed the tip of the employee's right toe. The employee's toe required surgical amputation.
An employee was moving a ramming machine to a staging area. While using the controls on the side of the machine, there was a sudden heavy rainfall causing the equipment to slide. The ramming machine tipped over and caught the employee against the ground. The employee sustained a fracture to the right side of their pelvis and was hospitalized.
An employee was transporting a cart containing instruments and packs to the operating room. The cart tipped over and fell on top of the employee. They sustained pain in their lower back and radiculopathy in their lower extremities.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 333132)
Employees were replacing a 24" pig trap door. A strap was shackled on the pig trap door and connected to a forklift. Welders began to cut the door off. An employee was holding onto the door when the cut was finished. The door shifted and caught his fingers, resulting in a hand injury and amputation.
An employee was fitting an arbor fixture into a rotor housing to be reworked. The rotor is moved by a hoist. The arbor was being lowered into the rotor housing when the arbor slipped down onto his hand and amputated a portion of his left thumb.
A crew was tripping out of the hole with an electrical submersible pump (ESP) in the process of swapping tubing tong heads to break down the ESP. An employee's left arm was caught and pinched by the tubing tongs. The employee sustained three lacerations and a fracture to the arm.
On May 21, 2025, at approximately 3:40 PM, a machinist was preparing a CNC lathe machine for it's next run. He was closing the machine door to complete the tooling setup when the door crushed his right middle finger. The employee required a surgical amputation to his fingertip.
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.