Alert 08 – 33 Inadvertent Activation of Control Lever Results in Serious Injury
WHAT HAPPENED:
The operation in progress was making-up 9 ½ drill collar lifting sub in a drill collar which was setting in the rotary table slips. A crewman was using a chain tong to tighten the lifting sub. The Rig Manager was inside the driller’s cabin lowering the elevator to latch on to the lifting sub. As he reached for the joystick on the control panel, the back of his right hand brushed the rotary table speed knob resulting in the knob turning. This caused the rotary table to spin in reverse with the chain tongs on the sub. The chain tong handle struck the injured person in the left torso and threw him into the Driller’s side of the drawworks, resulting in a very serious injury.