OSHA Inspection: D-J'S WELL SERVICE AND ROUSTABOUT INC

Issued

Sep 13, 2005

Abate by

Sep 19, 2005

Penalty

Initial $3,500 · Current $3,500

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970:  The
employer did not
furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from
recognized hazards that
were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to
employees in that employees
were exposed to the condition(s) listed below:
a) On June 21, 2005, employees of D-J's Well Service took a Cabot T-base
pumping unit loose
from its base and placed it onto shoring timbers, without attaching it
firmly to anything else.
Before doing this, they chained the bull gear to prevent the
counterweights from traveling, after
attaching one counterweight to a truck-mounted pole hoist. When they
released the chain by
hoisting the counterweights, one employee was pushing on the drive belts
to prevent the
counterweights from moving, which placed him in their zone of travel. When
he released the
belts, the swinging counterweights were suspended from only one side,
which had the effect of
overbalancing the unit and causing it to topple over. Employees were thus
exposed
to the
recognized hazards of being caught underneath falling equipment and being
struck by or caught
between the swinging counterweights and the rest of the pumping unit.
Exposure to these hazards could have been avoided by:
1. Attaching both counterweights to the hoist with a sling, which would
have permitted better
control of the counterweights and avoided the need to have anyone holding
their drive belts to
restrain them.
2. Proper maintenance of the brake system on the pumping unit, which would
have helped
prevent unintended movement of the counterweights.
3. Attaching the pumping unit to a steel skid base or concrete pad, which
would have
significantly reduced the likelihood of it tipping over.
4. Chaining the beam to a frame member instead of a moving assembly, so
that the chain would
have been easier to detach.