OSHA Inspection: UNITED DRILLING

Issued

Oct 15, 2009

Abate by

Dec 3, 2009

Penalty

Initial $5,600 · Current $5,600

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 exposed to fall
hazards when walking / working on the tops of tractor trailer tankers:
United Drilling, Inc., Rig 41, CR 306-M, Seminole, TX.  For the period of
time up to  and
including 06/16/09, the employer failed to protect each employee working
from the top of the
drilling platform with unprotected sides and edges by utilizing a personal
fall arrest system
(PFAS) or an appropriate custom-fit guardrail system.  Employees were
tasked with removing
the pins from the floor frames.  Employees were not protected from the
hazard of a fall of 11
feet 10 inches and 16 feet 10 inches to the ground below.
Recommended Practice for Occupational Safety for Oil and Gas Well Drilling
and Servicing
Operations API Recommended Practice 54, Third Edition, August 1999,
Reaffirmed,
March
2007 states in section 5.5.1 "All personnel, when engaged in work ten feet
above the rig floor
or other working surfaces, shall be protected at all times from falling
by guardrail systems,
safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems (PFAS).
Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable means of abatement would
be to ensure that
employees performing work from the top of a drilling platform are
protected from falls by a
PFAS utilizing anchorages attached to existing structures, or an
equivalent means of fall
protection.