Alert 13 – 12 Employee Standing in Line of Travel Results in Injury
WHAT HAPPENED:
In order to replace the back pin on an iron roughneck, the rig crew was in the process of pulling the jaws loose from the body. To pull the jaw loose, the crew had connected the boom pole hoist line to the jaw in an attempt to pull it from the iron roughneck. Due to the angle of the hoist line, the load was in a bind and was pulling on the jaw in a way that did not allow the jaw to free itself. The crew continued working with the jaw and the hoist line trying to free the jaw. Suddenly, the jaw came free and shot across the drill floor, which resulted in it striking an employees’ lower leg which then struck the boom pole hoist.