Drill Operator

Drill crew was attempting to back off a stuck drill pipe. A wire rope snub line was used to secure the worm tong. The snub line failed and the tong struck the employee resulting in fatal injuries.

On Thursday, September 1, 2011, at approximately 10:36 a.m., Cody A. Brown (victim), a contract well driller with approximately 17 months of drilling experience, was killed when a restraining wrench, commonly called a tong wrench, struck him in the upper body and limbs at Well Site #26. Brown and three other drilling personnel were attempting to remove drill pipe that had become bound up and was stuck in a drilled hole, approximately 1900 feet deep. The wire rope cable used to restrain the wrench broke, causing the wrench to strike Brown. Brown had just completed applying the wrench to the drill pipe to hold the applied torque when the wire cable failed. The wrench rotated around toward Brown at a high speed, throwing him into the drill rig.

1. The snub line cable should not have been used in this application. There was no immediate need for persons to be on the drill deck, other than the driller. The driller is shielded by the derrick supports. The torque could have been maintained using the clutches; this would not allow anyone to be in the line of an energy release, in case of failure. The snub line used to hold torque on the drill pipes was inadequate in size and strength to hold the load that was being placed on it. The snub line in use this day was ½ inch diameter.

   Corrective action: Weston Engineering, Inc. established Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) with provisions that the drill operation will not use the snub line when attempting to hold torque on the drill pipe. In normal drilling operation and application, the snub line is adequate to hold the force. When attempting to unhook two joints of pipe, the snub line will not be used, because of inadequate size and strength. The SOP was established in writing and all drilling personnel will receive training on this SOP prior to conducting further mine drilling operations. The training will be documented.

2. Release of the clutches was initiated prior to personnel being clear of pinch points and clear from the revolution of any machinery parts.

   Corrective action: Weston Engineering, Inc. established an SOP, detailing the positioning of personnel prior to release of any stored energy. The SOP will ensure that all personnel involved in any aspects of drilling operations are out of the areas where they may be contacted by moving machinery or tools. The SOP was reduced to writing and all drilling personnel will receive training on this SOP prior to conducting further mine drilling operations. The training will be documented.

3. The task training was inadequate to inform personnel involved with drilling operations of the acceptable snub line size and the safe positioning during drill work or activity related to drilling.

   Corrective action: All personnel performing drilling related duties will receive task training, detailing proper examination of all components of the drilling operations and adequate tool and equipment size for the intended purpose. The additional task training will be documented.

Findings from MSHA's final investigation report, which supersedes the preliminary narrative above.

Activity at time of incident

Surface Equipment, Nec

Subunit / location

STRIP, QUARY, OPEN PIT

Accident type

Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Source of injury

SURFACE MINING MACHINES

Nature of injury

MULTIPLE INJURIES

Body part affected

MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)

Total mining experience

0 years

Experience at this mine

0 years

Experience in this job

1 year

Degree of injury

FATALITY