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Company in Quinton explosion has numerous violations, fatalities
July 15, 2018
A drilling company involved in the January rig explosion in Quinton that killed five men has a history of violations and fatalities.
The oil and gas industry averaged 106.07 fatal occupational injuries per year in America from 2003 to 2016, according to data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics. Oklahoma averaged 11 fatal occupational injuries in the oil and gas industry during that same span, data shows.
A 2008 report from a U.S. Senate committee called Patterson-UTI “one of the worst violators of workplace safety laws” and detailed 13 employee fatalities in Texas during about a four-year period. An Associated Press analysis from 2008 found at least 20 Patterson-UTI workplace fatalities between 2002 and 2007.
Patterson-UTI had cleaned up its safety record in recent years, but OSHA has investigated 31 workplace deaths with the company since 2001 — according to a McAlester News-Capital review of the OSHA database.
Prior to the Patterson 219 explosion, OSHA last investigated a Patterson-UTI workplace death when an employee died Nov. 4, 2013, in Barnhart, Texas, after being crushed between a blowout preventor and the rig structure.
The company had two workplace deaths in 2013, two in 2012, three in 2011, two in 2010, and none in 2009, according to the OSHA database. Patterson-UTI had one workplace death apiece in 2008 and 2007, following six workplace deaths in 2006, three in 2005, and four in 2004, OSHA data shows.
Patterson-UTI has also accrued 196 OSHA violations since 2007 — including 44 in 2010 and 48 in 2008 — with just two violations apiece in 2015 and 2017, and none in 2016, OSHA data shows. The company also accrued repeat violations in 2007, but has not been issued a repeat violation since 2012, according to OSHA data.
OSHA issued Patterson-UTI nearly $1 million — a total of $895,083 — in initial fines since 2007 for violations, but the final fines listed add up to less than half the initial amount — totaling $406,138.
The following is a list of OSHA investigations involving workplace fatalities involving Patterson-UTI since 2001. Provided are the dates each case was opened, the case numbers and the locations for each case, followed by the description of the incident as listed in the OSHA database:
• Nov. 4, 2013 — 0625400 — Barnhart, TX
— At 2:30 a.m. on November 4, 2013, an employee was installing a BOP and stepped between that and the rig substructure. The employee was crushed. No further specific information was provided in the initial report.
• July 25, 2013 — 0626600 — Houston, TX
— At 1:00 p.m. on July 25, 2013, an employee was attaching a winch line to a load on a large trailer truck when he was caught between the load and a tandem truck when the truck driver backed up suddenly due to a miscommunication with the forklift driver. The employee was struck by and run over by the trailer truck, killing him with multiple injuries to his body.
• Jan. 30, 2012 — 0830300 — Keene, ND
— At 10:30 p.m. on January 27, 2012, Employee #1 and #2 were attempting to blow down a boiler on the oil well drilling site, in order to shut down the boiler. The boiler was not functioning properly. While the employees were preparing to blow down and shut down the boiler, a furnace explosion occurred. Employee #1 was killed and Employee #2 received second degree burns to the face and hands. Over pressure caused the back plate to be blown off, and striking Employee #1. A subsequent boiler inspection conducted by the North Dakota Boiler Inspection Service identified improper blow down procedures as the likely cause of the event. The employer had specific bolier blow down procedures in place but were not ensuring that these procedures were followed.
• April 5, 2012 — 0336000 — Tionesta, PA — NO VIOLATION
— At approximately 8:20 a.m. on April 5, 2012, Employee #1 was setting up an oil rig. He was working with two coworkers, one of which was responsible for drilling operations and the other for floor-handling activities. They were connecting a horizontal flow-line to a vertical conductor pipe. Employee #1 was standing in the substructure of the oil rig platform, while the two employees were above on the rig floor. The coworkers used an air hoist and sling to pull the flow-line closer to the conductor pipe. Employee #1 gave signals to the driller operator through the hole of the platform. The operator then communicated the directions to the other coworker, the floor-hand employee, who was at the hoist controls. While they worked, Employee #1 gave a stop signal and the floor-hand employee stopped the hoist. The driller operator went to help Employee #1 when he heard a loud sound emanating from the substructure. When the Driller entered the substructure, he found Employee #1 on top of the horizontal flow-line and pinned between the flow-line and a structural beam, which was above the flow-line. Employee #1 sustained crushing injuries to his chest. The driller operator called the floor-hand employee to lower the hoist at which Employee #1 fell approximately 25 feet onto the wellhead basement. Emergency medical personnel were summoned. The coworkers performed CPR until they arrived. The Forest County Coroner pronounced Employee #1 dead at the scene due to the injuries sustained when crushed by the flow-line and steel beam.
• July 11, 2011 —0653510 — Carlsbad, NM
— On July 8, 2011, Employee #1 was working for a drilling company, operating breakout tongs. The tongs broke loose and struck him in the abdominal area, killing him.
• Aug. 16, 2011 — 0626000 — Carrizo Springs, TX
— At approximately 12:45 p.m. on August 15, 2011, Employee #1 was part of a crew in the first stages of rigging down. The hoist on the off-drillers side and the boom hoist had been rigged to a manifold to remove it from the rig floor. After breaking all connections on the standpipe, Employee #1 signaled for the manifold to be lifted. When it became stuck, he signaled the hoist operator to stop. Employee #1 then walked over to the manifold, bent over, and pushed on it. The manifold broke free suddenly, struck him, and knocked him over a guardrail. Employee #1 fell 26 (feet) to the rig floor. He was initially conscious and complaining of back injuries. Employee #1 was transported to University Hospital, where he died.
• Jan. 14, 2011 — 0317700 — Shunk, PA
— At approximately 1:29 a.m. on January 14, 2011, Employee #1 was part of a five-man gas drilling crew installing casings in the top of a gas well. In order to weigh the casings down, they planned to pump mud in from the top. They attempted to use a swage fitting to attach a 2-in. mud line but the fitting was for a different type of casing pipe. The crew then decided to manually hold the mud line as the mud was pumped in. Employee #1 and a coworker held the line and signaled the driller in the dog house to start the pump. The driller started the pump on a low setting to get the mud flowing. After about 1 to 2 minutes, with no mud yet flowing, the line blew out of the casing, knocked the two workers to the floor, and struck Employee #1’s face. He then fell and struck his head on a piece of equipment. Employee #1 was airlifted to Williamsport Regional Hospital, where he was treated for a skull fracture. Employee #1 died five days later.
• Nov. 27, 2010 — 0626000 — Cotulla TX
— On November 27, 2010, employees of a drilling crew were assembling and installing a Varco Top Drive track system for the overhead top drive electric drilling rig. A crane was used to hoist four sections of track/guide beams, one at a time, through the v-door, and to the rig floor. When the track/guide beams were at the drilling rig floor, employees got on both sides of the track/guide beam and connected the hook pin saddle at the end of the one beam around the hook pin at the end of the other beam. One of the employees then disconnected the top tugger line. The track/guide beam was then hoisted up by the traveling block and lowered through the rotary table opening, so that the final joint, retainer, and lynch pins could be inserted into place to secure the guide beam. This procedure was repeated until the guide beam installation was complete. During the installation of the last section of track/guide beam, the hook pin saddle and hook pin were connected, and the track/guide beam was then raised up to approximately 20 feet. The beam was almost vertical, when the welds on the hook pin broke or failed. The track, which weighed approximately 2,500 pounds, fell and struck Employee #1, a floor hand who was standing adjacent to the air hoist on the driller side of the rig floor. Employee #1 was killed.
• May 5, 2010 — 0627510 — Midkiff, TX
— On May 5, 2005, Employee #1, a motorman, was making a drill stem connection. The driller apparently struck the storm bar on the monkeyboard with the kelly, causing the pipe to swing across the rig floor. Employee #1 apparently grabbed the pipe and struck his head, as he was swung into the tongs. Employee #1 was killed.
• March 27, 2008 — 0830500 — Gilcrest, CO
— On March 27, 2008, Employee #1 was involved in the process of rigging up a drill rig when he was caught between a truck and the top of the sub floor of the drill rig. Employee #1 died as a result of the accident.
• April 9, 2007 — 0627400 — Floydada, TX
— On April 8, 2007, Employee #1, an oil well driller, was working with his coworkers, when the drill bit that they were using became plugged. The driller raised the drill string and let it fall 20 feet and stopped it abruptly in an attempt to unplug the bit. This did not work and caused the brake to “break over”. Some of the coworkers attempted to fix the brake by attaching the winch line to the brake handle and pulling it back. This did not work and it bent the shaft on the brake. They then tried to remove the drum guard. Five of the coworkers suggested that they should try to take the guard apart into three pieces so it would be easier to handle. As they started to remove the bolts, the tool pusher informed them that all five of them could remove the guard in one piece. The guard was removed in one piece and they attempted to “break over” the brake by using 36-in. pipe wrenches to pull the pivot point back over. However, this did not work. They, then, attached the wrenches to the pivot point directly under the driller’s console, and pulled the wrenches with the winch line. This did get the brake to “break over”. Instead of using the five coworkers to put the guard back in place over the drum, or taking the guard apart so it could be more easily managed, three coworkers were directed to put the guard back in place while the tool pusher and the motor man worked on the bent brake handle. Employee # 1 was standing on top of the drum with his back against the drill line. The derrick man and a floor hand were trying to roll the guard up to Employee #1 when the brake handle slipped and hit the throttle, causing the drum to rotate, pulling Employee #1 into the drum. The drum rotated two full revolutions before the coworkers could stop it. Employee #1 was cut into two pieces and pronounced dead at the worksite.
• Aug. 30, 2006 — 0627400 — Kermit, TX
— On August 30, 2006, Employee #1, a supervisor, was walking alongside a Genie man lift. The lift’s front left tire caught the employee’s right leg and ran over him. The employee died as a result of his injuries.
• July 10, 2006 — 0627400 — Kermit, TX
— On July 6, 2006, Employees #1 and #2 were employed in the crude petroleum and natural gas industry, working at a drilling rig. One was working as a derrick man, and the other was working as a driller. They were engaged in “tripping,” which is “the process of removing and/or replacing pipe from the well when it is necessary to change the bit or other piece of the drill string, or when preparing to run certain tests in the well bore.” The process was time-consuming, as they had to “rabbit” each pipe before putting it in the well. The pipes were too long for the derrick man to reach, so each was put in the mouse hole until the rabbit was put in the pipe. The derrick man would hold onto the rope on the rabbit until the pipe was pulled out of the mouse hole. At the time of the accident, the derrick man lost his grip on the rope before the pipe had been pulled out of the mouse hole. The rabbit went down the mouse hole. The derrick man came down to lift the mouse hole up with a forklift so that the rabbit could be retrieved. After replacing the mouse hole, the derrick man climbed back up the derrick. Once back on the monkey board, though, he failed to connect his fall protection equipment. When he reached out to grab the next pipe, he fell from the derrick, striking the driller, who had been working floors, and then striking the tongs. The derrick man was pronounced dead before he was taken from the site. The driller was pronounced dead at the hospital.
• July 7, 2006 — 0627700 — Hinton, OK
— On July 6, 2006, Employees #1, #2, and #3 were drilling an oil and gas well. They were preparing to insert a 30-foot section of drilling pipe into the nearly 6,500-foot-long drilling string. Their coworker, the driller, was operating the draw works. He had pulled most of the kelly out of the well, when he felt a bump. Employees #1 and #3 were on the west side of the drill rig, preparing to connect the kelly to the new section of drill pipe, while Employee #2 was on the racking board, preparing the power tongs to disengage the kelly from the string. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the crown sheave shaft came out of one of its mounts, allowing the five sheaves, the drilling line, the 165,000-pound drilling string, and the blocks to fall to the drilling floor. Employee #1’s right leg was trapped under the blocks and nearly amputated. He sustained severe blood loss, and he was killed as a result of his lacerations. Employee #2 was under Employee #1 and suffered a head wound. He was hospitalized for his lacerations. Employee #3 had a head wound and multiple right leg fractures. He was hospitalized too. The driller had minor abrasions and contusions. This is no mention of him on the injury lines. The reason that the shaft pulled out of one of its pillar blocks was that the shaft retaining bolt (similar to a set screw) did not sufficiently penetrate the shaft receptacle. This oversight allowed the end of the shaft (to) move about and enlarge the pillar block shaft hole. After a while, the shaft end could move in and out of the pillar block, until, by the time of the accident, the shaft pulled entirely free of the pillar block. Then the second pillar block’s supporting steel structure failed, letting the freed shaft end deflect downwards and allowing the unrestrained sheaves to fall. Underlying these failures were inadequate inspections of the mast, including the crown assembly. The moving shaft had distended the pillar block, causing an observable gap between the two. Two cracks, not associated with the accident, were observed on the crown structure. Two bolts and a nut were found on the crown after the accident; their placement could not be ascertained, and they were not damaged. The mast secondary structure had numerous sections bent or otherwise damaged; the employer, upon completion of an in-depth inspection, replaced upwards of twenty-five percent of the upper mast secondary structure.
• June 8, 2006 — 0626000 — Zapata, TX
— On June 8, 2006, Employee #1 was working at (a) gas well drilling site. For three days prior to the accident, the well had been receiving gas, but it had lost circulation. That is, drilling mud was flowing into the wellbore, but there was no mud returning to the drilling mud circulating tank. The employer needed to determine height of the fluid level. So that he could do that, stands of pipe were to be “tripped out.” The first five stands were tripped out uneventfully, but on the sixth stand, the rotating rubber head gasket had to be removed. Suddenly, the well “kicked” during the process. Employee #1 was struck by pressurized mud and gas when he attempted to remove the bolt from the rubber gasket of the rotating head. He sustained injuries to several parts of his body, and he was killed.
• Feb. 16, 2006 — 0855610 — Boulder, WY
— On February 14, 2006, Employee #1 was working from scaffolding that was approximately 30-feet tall. The scaffolding was directly above a drilling rig cellar that was about 10-feet deep. While Employee #1, thought to be collecting tools, was on the scaffold, he fell into the cellar, killing him. Employee #1’s hard hat was found on the scaffolding directly above the cellar, with Employee #1 below. The accident investigation revealed that Employee #1 was not wearing fall protection, and the injuries found on his body were consistent with a fall from a scaffold. There were no witnesses.
• Jan. 27, 2006 — 0626000 — Pierce, TX
— Employee #1 was transporting a cement head device suspended from a chain and secured to the forks of the rough terrain forklift vehicle. While transporting the device, the forklift and (sic) made contact with the overhead power lines which were operating at a voltage of 12,800 volts and were suspended 26 (feet) 8 (inches) above the ground. Employee #1 suffered an electric shock and was killed.
• Nov. 25, 2005 — 0830500 — Johnstown, CO
— Employee #1, a worker on an oil and gas drilling rig, was killed during maintenance on a compressor unit. Employee #1 and a coworker were changing the tank on a compressor. Employee #1 was lying on the metal floor under the compressor and made contact with a live electrical circuit. Employee #1 was killed. The coworker did not make contact with the circuit and was not injured.
• April 20, 2005 — 0636900 — Decatur, TX
— On April 19, 2005, Employee #1 was driving an Ingersoll Rand forklift truck, trying to squeeze between a pit and a wellhead, as coworkers were rigging up a derrick. As he was looking up at a storage container to avoid hitting it, he clipped the forklift’s right front tire on a 2-inch line on the wellhead. Gas was released, and a fire ensued that engulfed the forklift truck. Employee #1 was killed. A coworker fractured his arm when he jumped off a substructure and landed by the blowout preventer. The original form does not include the coworker an injury line.
• Jan. 14, 2005 — 0854910 — Ouray, UT
— On January 13, 2005, Employee #1, with Patterson-UTI Drilling Co., was working on top of a derrick approximately 45 miles south of Ouray, UT. On the second day of “rig-up”, a thick (approximately 1.25 inches) bridle line became caught on a small “dog-ear”. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to free the line. The tension on the line caused it to slip off of the dog-ear and strike Employee #1’s head. After receiving first aid on site, he was airlifted to the University of Utah Hospital, where he died on January 15, 2005.
• Aug. 12, 2004 — 0627700 — Chickasha, OK
— On August 11, 2004, Employee #1 and a coworker were working from an elevated man-basket supported by a rough terrain-type forklift. They were not attached to the fork assembly. When Employee #1 moved from the right rear corner to the front left of the basket, he slid off the forks and fell 17 (feet) to the ground. Employee #1 received a concussion and died.
• Feb. 12, 2004 — 0627400 — Sundown, TX
— On February 11, 2004, Employee #1 was moving a drill stem to place it in a drilling hole. The drill stem struck him in the head. He died of the resultant head injury. The drill stem weighed approximately 300 pounds and was 30 (feet) long
• Jan. 16, 2004 — 0627400 — Canadian, TX
— An employee was filling a pre-mixer for a mud pit. He walked into an open hatchway and fell into the premixing pit. He drowned in the pit.
• Jan. 5, 2004 — 0855610 — Kemmerer, WY
— On December 23, 2003, Employee #1, a rig hand, and coworkers were conducting a top/surface cementing job. The cement line from the pump truck was positioned across the rig floor to the well casing and was not secured to prevent movement. While pumping the cement, within seconds, there was a sudden and drastic rise in pressure, increasing from 50 psi to 800 psi. In turn, the rate at which the cement was being pumped doubled, going from 4 barrels per minute (bpm) to 8 bpm. The cement line and 6-foot stinger, positioned between the well casing and conductor pipe, began to whip around. Employee #1 was struck in the head and knocked through an open and unguarded V-door and off the rig floor approximately 30 feet to the ground. Employee #1 died.
• Nov. 25, 2003 — 0636900 — Ponder, TX
— Employee #1 was working on a drilling rig when the clutch blew apart and the flying debris struck him in the head. Employee #1 was killed.
• Nov. 3, 2003 — 0627400 Midland, TX
— On November 1, 2003, an employee and four coworkers were “tripping” pipe out of the well. The operator raised the traveling block too high causing the block to contact a wooden protection seal on the crown. A piece of the wood seal broke off, 12 by 12 by 36, and fell, striking the employee, a floor hand, on the head and killing him instantly. The brother of the employee, who was also working at the site, attacked the operator, cousin, with a hacksaw. The rig supervisor broke up the confrontation and the operator was treated at an emergency room and released.
• Sept. 25, 2002 — 0636900 — Decatur, TX
— Employee #1 was part of an oil well crew team. He was adding a joint of drilling pipe to the drill string during normal drilling operations when a coworker, who had just been shown by the driller how to use the driller’s operational console, began operating the rig. The coworker stopped the rotary so Employee #1 could break the connection between the kelly and the drill string. After the connection was broken, Employee #1 began moving the tongs to the mousehole, while the coworker operating the rig attempted to raise the kelly so it could be moved to the mousehole and connected to the next joint. In the process, the coworker engaged the breakout cathead instead of the drum hoist. This activated the tong, which struck Employee #1 on the head, killing him.
• May 29, 2002 — 0626600 — Buffalo, TX
— On May 29, 2002, Employee #1 was part of a crew that was dismantling an oil rig to move it to another site. He was not using any form of fall protection and it had been raining, making the derrick slick. He was walking down the derrick to attach a chain so the derrick could be loaded onto a truck. He slipped and fell 16 ft into the truck and was killed.
• May 6, 2002 — 0636900 — Denton, TX
— On May 4, 2002, Employee #1 was working at an oil rig while several rig parts were being hoisted. For this operation, the stabilizer was disconnected from the mud motor and picked up by the elevators. Then the mud motor was picked up by the air hoist. During these procedures, a stand of pipe on the derrick floor impeded the vision of the air hoist operator, who was getting hand signals from the driller. When the driller gave the hoist operator the signal to pick up, the stabilizer fell onto the derrick floor. Employee #1 fell backward and his head struck a chain guard. He was killed. The wire rope of the air hoist may have become entangled on the elevator latch, causing the stabilizer to fall.
• Nov. 23, 2001 — 0627400 — Midland, TX
— Employee #1 had climbed to the monkeyboard of a drilling rig. He was wearing a full fall protection harness. While he was climbing, he had been hooked up to a climbing-assist apparatus manufactured by DBI. The monkeyboard was located approximately 85 feet from the floor. He was up there for 7 to 10 minutes, waiting for coworkers to send up the blocks. The blocks were sent up, and Employee #1 leaned out to put the pipe in the block. His coworkers noticed that he had not tied himself off to the fall protection cable or to the tail rope, which the employees had used for positioning. As Employee #1 tried to grab the pipe, he fell to his death still wearing his harness.
• May 30, 2001 — 0653510 — Loco Hills, NM
— Employee #1 was working on an oil rig while the rig was being dismantled (rigging down). Employee #1 exited the upper dog house onto the rig floor and was struck in the head by the Kelly hose that had come loose from the cross member of the derrick where it was secured. Employee #1 was killed.
Source: McAlester News
