Scribd
Upload
111 views

Improper Length Tong Safety Line Results Fatality

A worker died in a drilling rig accident caused by an improperly long safety line on a tong device. During a previous operation, the drill crew had replaced the standard safety line with a longer one but failed to replace it after. The next day, when engaging a bit onto a sub, the rotary reversed and caused the tong to rotate beyond the safe 90 degrees, trapping the worker between the tong and excessively long line. An investigation found the crew did not properly restore the safety line length after the previous job and handover communication failed to mention the non-standard configuration. Corrective actions included requiring permits for safety line changes and ensuring all temporary setup modifications are documented and restored before shift changes.

Uploaded by

rishiraj goswami
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
111 views

Improper Length Tong Safety Line Results Fatality

A worker died in a drilling rig accident caused by an improperly long safety line on a tong device. During a previous operation, the drill crew had replaced the standard safety line with a longer one but failed to replace it after. The next day, when engaging a bit onto a sub, the rotary reversed and caused the tong to rotate beyond the safe 90 degrees, trapping the worker between the tong and excessively long line. An investigation found the crew did not properly restore the safety line length after the previous job and handover communication failed to mention the non-standard configuration. Corrective actions included requiring permits for safety line changes and ensuring all temporary setup modifications are documented and restored before shift changes.

Uploaded by

rishiraj goswami
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

OIL INDUSTRY SAFETY DIRECTORATE

NOIDA

SAFETY ALERT

E&P (Offshore) No. 14/06

Title: Improper length of tong safety line results in fatality

Location: Derrick Floor

Activity Type
(Result/outcome): Fatality

What happened?

During a rig floor operation a longer safety line was required instead of standard regular
length at the makeup power tong. The drill crew changed out the safety line on the make-
up tong with a longer one. After completion of operation, the drill crew did not replace
the longer safety line with the standard length one. Next day, when the drill crew was
making up a bit onto a bit sub the driller engaged the rotary into reverse direction to
engage the bit into the sub. This caused the make-up tong to rotate around 180 degrees
from the anchor post, instead of stopping at 90 degrees due to longer safety line. This
resulted in the rig man operating the makeup tong getting trapped between the tong and
the extended safety line suffering fatal injuries.

What caused it?

1. The drill crew did not replace the longer safety line with the proper length safety line
on completion of the specific task.

2. When the drill crew engaged the tongs, they did not push the tongs around to a point
that the safety line would be taut thus allowing them and the driller to see that the
line was too long.

3. The driller going off duty did not inform his reliever that the safety line on the make-
up tongs was changed out for a longer one to accommodate a specific operation.

Corrective actions:

 The relevant SOP should take into account of the requirement of a “Permit to Work”
for changing of snub lines in the Operations Procedure Manual.

 Any changes made in the derrick floor equipment arrangements should be noted in
the daily handing over note book during the shift change. Preferably all temporary
changes made during the shift should be restored back to normal before the end of
the shift.

 Drillers to follow drill floor check list as their daily checks of the rig floor.

It is provided for information purpose. This information should be evaluated to determine if it is


applicable in your operations, to avoid reoccurrence of such incidents.

You might also like