OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14557557
HEAD,VALVE,RUPTURE,HIGH PRESSURE,OIL WELL SERVICING,STRUCK BY,FLYING OBJECT
Event description
OIL WELL VALVE RUPTURED; PIECE STRUCK EMPLOYEE
Investigation abstract
ON JULY 8, 1985, THE EMPLOYEES WERE PREPARING TO BACKFLOW AN OIL AND GAS WELL AF MATELY 600 PSI OF PRESSURE DEVELOPED IN THE PUMPING "T". THE WALWORTH PLUG VALVE RUPTURED, BREAKING THE CASING INTO AT LEAST TWO SECTIONS. ONE SECTION STRUCK EM PLOYEE #1 ON THE LEFT SIDE OF HIS HARD HAT, SMASHING THE HAT AND CAUSING SEVERE INJURIES TO HIS HEAD. HE WAS KILLED. TWO OTHER EMPLOYEES WERE INJURED. TER TREATING IT WITH 20% HYDROGEN CHLORIDE COMBINED WITH 700 STANDARD CUBIC FEET OF NITROGEN. A FLOW LINE CONSISTING OF A WACO MODEL DR 150 W PLUG VALVE, A HUBE R-HERCULES 460 T JUNCTION, A WALWORTH 1796 (200 WOG) PLUG VALVE AND A THORNHILL CRAVER UNIBOLT ADJUSTABLE CHOKE WITH A ONE INCH ORIFICE. THE CHOKE VALVE WAS CON NECTED TO A HIGH PRESSURE HOSE LEADING TO A FRAC TANK. THE PRESSURE IN THE OIL A ND GAS WELL WAS MEASURED AT 3150 PSIG WHEN THE FLOW LINE WAS INSTALLED. ALL VALV ES WERE OPEN EXCEPT THE WACO PLUG VALVE, WHICH WAS LEAKING. THE CHOKE VALVE WAS OPEN TO A SCALE READING OF 12/64. BEFORE THE WACO VALVE COULD BE OPENED, APPROXI
Victims (4)
-
#1 Fatality Age 20 M
- Nature of injury
- 6
- Part of body
- 13
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 28
- Occupation code
- 614
- Human factor
- 6
- Environmental factor
- 5
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 35 M
- Nature of injury
- 14
- Part of body
- 6
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 2
- Occupation code
- 614
- Human factor
- 6
- Environmental factor
- 16
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#3 Hospitalized Age 20 M
- Nature of injury
- 3
- Part of body
- 21
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 28
- Occupation code
- 614
- Human factor
- 6
- Environmental factor
- 5
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#981 Degree 0 Age 0
- Nature of injury
- 0
- Part of body
- 0
- Event type
- 0
- Source
- 0
- Occupation code
- 0
- Human factor
- 0
- Environmental factor
- 0
- Task assigned
- 0
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.