105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #733642

SHOULDER,EXPLOSION,OIL WELL PERFORATING,BURN,OIL WELL DRILLING,PERFORATING GUN

Event
SHOULDER,EXPLOSION,OIL WELL PERFORATING,BURN,OIL WELL DRILLING,PERFORATING GUN
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
733642
Report ID
855610

Event description

OIL WELL PERFORATION GUN EXPLODED, INJURING 3 EMPLOYEES

Investigation abstract

JUST PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT EMPLOYEE #2 AND HIS CREW HAD REMOVED ALL THE TUBING F SHRAPNEL WOUNDS AND MINOR BURNS. COMPANY PROCEDURE WASN'T FOLLOWED CONCERNING I NSTALLATION OF THREE FIRING PINS INSIDE THE FIRING ASSEMBLY. ROM AN OIL WELL. EMPLOYEE #3 AND HIS ASSISTANT WERE ASSEMBLING A PERFORATION GUN FOR USE IN THE WELL. WHEN THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED EMPLOYEE #3 WAS ASSEMBLING THE GUN'S FIRING MECHANISM AT THE TOP OF THE GUN. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS STANDING OPPOSITE EMPLOYEE #3, CHECKING THE DIMENSIONS OF THE GUN. EMPLOYEE #2 WAS APPROXIMATELY 1 0 FEET BEHIND EMPLOYEE #1. THE PORTION OF THE GUN BEING WORKED ON AT THE TIME CO NSISTED OF TWO 10 FOOT SECTIONS CONTAINING 80 CHARGES. THE CHARGES ARE IN ROWS A LONG THE GUN'S LENGTH, 120 DEGREES APART. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS HIT IN BOTH SHOULDERS BY THE BLAST, CAUSING SKIN, MUSCLE AND BONE DAMAGE. EMPLOYEES #2 AND #3 RECEIVED

Victims (6)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 62 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    21
    Event type
    1
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    613
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 28 M

    Nature of injury
    18
    Part of body
    20
    Event type
    1
    Source
    14
    Occupation code
    613
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    5
    Task assigned
    1
  3. #3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 27 M

    Nature of injury
    18
    Part of body
    5
    Event type
    1
    Source
    14
    Occupation code
    615
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    5
    Task assigned
    1
  4. #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
  5. #982 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
  6. #983 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.