Alert 10 – 33 Worker’s Arm Caught in Mud Bucket
WHAT HAPPENED:
The air slips were changed out because they were not setting properly. In order to pull the slips away from the rotary table, the air line from the mud bucket was removed and fitted to the rig floor winch. (The sole purpose of that particular air winch is for use with the air slips.) When the crew removed the air hose from the mud bucket and connected it to the air winch, they operated the control valves on the mud bucket to bleed off the residual pressure in the air line. The driller was setting down the weight of the drill string, getting ready to back out a stand of drill pipe when he observed a rig floor worker (Injured Person [IP]) holding a dope brush with his hand inside the mud bucket. The driller shouted a warning and at the same time the mud bucket closed, trapping the man’s arm as the air supply to the bucket was turned back on.