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Investigation Report

Worker Struck by Falling Casing Pipe Joint and Fatally Injured

October 1, 2013

Report No. F-OHS-050759-3AC68 September 2017

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F-OHS-050759-3AC68 Alberta Final Report

Occupational Health and Safety

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The contents of this report This document reports Occupational Health and Safety’s (OHS) investigation of a fatal incident in October 2013. It begins with a short summary of what happened. The rest of the report covers this same information in greater detail. Incident summary While removing casing pipe from a hydrocarbon storage well, a pipe joint separated from the handling plug, fell, and struck a worker on the rig floor. The worker was fatally injured at approximately 5:00 p.m. on October 1, 2013, and pronounced deceased the following day. Background information Dow Chemical Canada ULC (Dow) owned the Fort Saskatchewan site, where the incident occurred, and had been in operation for 50 years. The Fort Saskatchewan site was one of two sites in the province that comprised Dow’s operations. Situated on 861 hectares, it formed one of the largest petrochemical complexes in Canada. Dow had production units that produced hydrocarbons, ethylene, polyethylene, and electricity as well as an ethylene glycol/ethylene oxide plant operated by MEGlobal. The Fort Saskatchewan site had about 500 full time employees and 300 contractors. Dow contracted Precision Well Servicing, Pajak Engineering Ltd., Rig Service Tools, Hunting Energy Services, and Signature Safety Services to perform miscellaneous services related to the workover of Dow well CV-106. Precision Well Servicing (PWS) was Canada's largest service rig contractor and provided a full range of completion and production services for oil and natural gas wells from a fleet of 229 service rigs. PWS was contracted by Dow to provide Drilling Rig 641 and to supply personnel and equipment as required for the workover of CV-106. They provided the following workers:

• Two floorhands o Floorhand #1 – worked for PWS approximately two years as a floorhand.

Floorhand #1 was on the drilling rig floor at the time of the incident and was killed when struck by the falling pipe joint.

o Floorhand #2 – worked for PWS for three years as a roughneck and motorhand. Floorhand #2 was on the drilling rig floor acting as a floorhand at the time of the incident.



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• One rig manager

o Worked for PWS for approximately 20 years. The rig manager had 35 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry. The rig manager was on the lease site at the time of the incident in the loader moving pipe. The rig manager was the father of the fatally injured worker.

• One driller/operator o Worked for PWS for 15 years, 12 years as a driller/operator. The driller/operator

had 20 years’ experience on the rigs. At the time of the incident the driller/operator was at the drilling rig operator’s station which was adjacent to the rig floor.

• One motorhand o Worked for PWS for 8 years as a driller/operator and as a swinghand (able to

work every position). The motorhand had 15 years’ experience. At the time of the incident the motorhand was on the lease site checking equipment.

• One derrickhand o Worked for PWS for 8 years, 6 years as a derrickhand. The derrickhand had

approximately 8 ½ years’ experience on the rigs. At the time of the incident the derrickhand was up on the mast, below the monkey board.

Pajak Engineering Ltd. (Pajak) provided the oil and gas industry with engineering, project management and wellsite supervisory services for wellsite preparation, drilling, completion, production and lease restoration, both on and offshore, since 1966. Pajak was a compliant permit holder of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA). Pajak was contracted by Dow to provide wellsite supervision for the CV-106 workover with:

• One wellsite supervisor o Worked for Pajak for about 2 months. The wellsite supervisor had 15 years’

experience as a wellsite supervisor. At the time of the incident, the wellsite supervisor was on the lease site talking with the health, safety, and environmental (HSE) advisor.

Rig Service Tools (RST) had been a provider of oilfield services since 1952. They specialized in casing and tubing, power tongs, catwalks, casing jacks, external pressure testing, computer torque monitoring services and more. RST provided services, sales, and rentals across Canada. RST provided thousands of job-specific tools, oilfield technology and equipment, and complete equipment and service packages.



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RST was contracted by Dow to provide labour and well service (tubulars, tongs, laydown unit as required) for the CV-106 workover. They provided slings, tongs, catwalk, elevators, pick-up elevators, slips, dog collar, spider, striping plate, and C-plate along with two workers:

• One power tong operator o Worked for RST for 1 year as a power-tong operator. The power tong operator

had six years’ experience. At the time of the incident, the power tong operator was on the rig floor.

• One hydraulic catwalk operator

o Worked for RST for 14 years as a catwalk operator. The catwalk operator had 25 years’ experience. At the time of the incident, the catwalk operator was in the cab of the hydraulic catwalk, facing the rig.

Hunting Energy Services (Hunting) provided products and services to the upstream oil and gas industry. Sales and service operations were located in the major oil centres of the world, comprising over 80 company owned facilities and a network of more than 60 licensed partners. Hunting had provided the casing pipe and associated components for the original well. Hunting provided the handling plugs, torque bars, protectors and the stabbing guide along with onsite quality control:

• One thread inspector o Worked for Hunting for 25 years as an inspector. The thread inspector had 40+

years’ experience. At the time of the incident, the thread inspector was on the lease site between the hydraulic catwalk and the pipe racks.

Signature Safety Services (Signature) had provided over 14 years of safety management experience directly related to the oil and gas industry and over 12 years of experience in business management. Signature provided an HSE advisor who was contracted through Pajak.

• One HSE advisor o Worked for Signature for one year. The HSE advisor had six years’ experience.

At the time of the incident, the HSE advisor was on the lease site talking with the wellsite supervisor.

Equipment and materials Incident Site Wells Control complex at the Dow 861 hectare Fort Saskatchewan facility, PWS Rig 641, was situated immediately to the east of the Wells Control building and tool sheds. Wells Control monitored the access wells and underground caverns used to store bulk quantities of ethylene and ethane.



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PWS Rig 641 A “heavy double” service rig (owned by PWS) with associated derrick, draw-works, travelling block and hook used to run pipe into, or out of, a well. Service rigs were used to initiate production from a well, provide maintenance to improve productivity during the working life of the well, and when production was no longer economically viable, to properly abandon the well. Rig 641 was performing a workover (converting the drilled well to mining operation) on well 106A. Part of this workover was jacking up (freeing) the casing string, and the removal and replacement of the 10 ¾ inch well casing (Figure 1). Handling Plugs (Lift Nubbins) Used for lifting or laying down single tubular casing joints – 10 ¾ inch 51-56# SLSF (Figure 2). Casing pipe (10.750” Seal-Lock Semi-Flush) 10 ¾ inch (27.3 centimetre (cm)) steel casing pipe - 10 ¾ inch 51# SLSF L-80 casing with a specified plain end weight of approximately 49.5 pounds/foot. (73.7 kilograms/metre (kg/m)) (Figure 3). Three-Part “Y” Bridle Sling Wire rope sling manufactured by Supersling used to suspend and laydown single casing joints after they had been broken out from the drill string. The sling was suspended from the hook of the travelling block and attached to the pick-up (or lay-down) elevators forming an inverted Y held together by a swivel (Figure 4). Single Pipe Elevator Alco 5 ton (4.5 tonne) elevator was used for suspending and laying down (or picking up) a single casing pipe joint. Attached to the lower end of the bridle sling by the two ends of the Y, the handling plug (and attached single casing joint) rested inside, and on top of the elevators (Figure 5). Power Tongs Large-capacity, self-locking wrenches were used for applying torque, and gripping drill string components. Manufactured by Universe Machine and used to spin the casing pipe to ‘break’ the joint connections (Figure 6). Torque bars Approximately two foot long steel bars with small T end handles used to screw the handling plug into the female end of the casing pipe joint.



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Figure 1. PWS Rig 641on location (near the Wells Control building) at the Dow plant in Fort Saskatchewan as it was found on OHS arrival. A - Pick-up/lay-down elevators and handling plug (casing joint separated from this connection, striking Floorhand #1 as it fell), B – Rig floor (floorhands & powertong operator standing here when the incident occurred) C – Casing joint (position the pipe joint came to rest after it separated from the handling plug)

C

B

A



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Figure 2. Rig 641 floor and underworks with the casing pipe joint alongside the hydraulic catwalk where it came to rest after falling from the Alco elevator and handling plug. A - Fallen casing pipe ‘joint’

A



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Figure 3. Looking directly up from the Rig 641 floor. Configuration of drawworks, block, hook, and attached elevators as found by the investigating officers at the incident site. A – Main slip elevators B – Alco lay-down elevator & handling plug

B

A



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Figure 4. The handling plug and lay-down elevator as they were found at the incident site. They were hanging from the wire rope sling which is attached to the hook/travelling block, approximately 30 to 40 feet above the rig floor. A – handling plug (in the lay-down elevator) B – Alco lay-down elevator

B

A



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Figure 5. This photograph shows the wire rope sling, the handling plug, and the lay-down elevator. The photograph was taken after the assembly was lowered and removed from the travelling block. A – 3-part “Y” bridle sling B – handling plug C – lay-down elevator

B

C

A



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Figure 6. The handling plug. It would be screwed into the box end of the casing pipe joint. It provided an offset for the lay-down elevator to hold onto. Sequence of events On October 1, 2013, work began at the Dow Fort Saskatchewan site to remove the well casing at CV-106. RST and Hunting were retained by Dow to supply tools and personnel to work with PWS workers on Rig 641 to remove the casing string and place it at another location for the mining phase of the workover. Dow also retained Pajak to provide site supervision for the project. Pajak contracted Signature to provide onsite first aid. The crew started at approximately 7:00 a.m. on October 1, 2013. They conducted a safety meeting to discuss the task and associated hazards. They then used casing jacks to free up the drill string and bring the dog-nut (tubing hanger) out of the well. They then broke off the dog-nut, laid it down and got ready to bring up pipe. They conducted another safety meeting with RST workers regarding the use of their equipment on the rig floor. RST workers had to explain the use of the tools, and everyone had to be familiar with the equipment.



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They then continued at a slow pace to become familiar with the equipment and the process. They removed a few joints before lunch. After lunch, they pulled some more joints and then performed a “slip and cut” (replacing drilling line wrapped around the crown and travelling block). The crew then had a coffee break. After coffee, they pulled some more joints.

At approximately 5:00 p.m. (they were scheduled to work until 6:00 p.m.), while pulling out joint numbers 17 – 19, the joint separated from the handling plug and single-joint elevators while it was suspended in the air. The joint had just been broken out from the drill string by the power tongs and was hanging from the sling/elevator/handling plug. At this point one of the floorhands had attached a thread protector to the female end of the pipe and was positioning it to be lowered onto the waiting hydraulic catwalk. The joint was just being lowered onto the catwalk when it fell free, struck the stabbing board, fell to the rig floor, and hit Floorhand #1 on the head. The casing joint took out part of the guard rail surrounding the rig floor and came to a rest alongside the hydraulic catwalk, on the supporting scaffolding of the rig sub-structure (below the rig floor).

At this point the crew noticed that Floorhand #1 was lying injured on the rig floor. The crew provided first aid and activated their Emergency Response Plan. Dow’s emergency services responded, and the worker was taken to hospital by emergency medical services (EMS). Floorhand #1 passed away later as a result of sustained injuries.

Completion A review of the file with the Crown was completed on April 16, 2015, and it was determined that the file would be referred to Alberta Justice. The entire file was sent to Alberta Justice on July 4, 2015, for review. Alberta Justice determined that charges were not appropriate in this case.

This file was closed on September 30, 2015.



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Signatures

ORIGINAL REPORT SIGNED June 29, 2017

Lead Investigator Date

ORIGINAL REPORT SIGNED June 29, 2017

Manager Date

ORIGINAL REPORT SIGNED September 7, 2017

Director Date

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