Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 102574.015 - Three employees are killed in drilling rig explosion

Accident Summary Nr: 102574.015 -- Report ID: 0627700 -- Event Date: 01/22/2018
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
1290639.015	01/22/2018		213111	Patterson-Uti Drilling Company, Llc

Abstract: At 8:37 a.m. on January 22, 2018, five employees were working on an oil rig, tripping out the wellbore to change a bit. During work, the gas surfaced as the pipe/bit was removed from the well, causing the well to burp. Once the initial burp subsided, another burp occurred and gas fumes found an ignition source, causing a series of explosions on and around the rig. Five employees were in the doghouse, unable to escape and were over come by smoke and excessive heat. Three employees were killed.

Keywords: Explosion, Explosion Venting, Gas Well, Heat, Smoke, Smoke Inhalation

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Occupation
1	1290639.015	35	M	Fatality	Drillers, oil well
2	1290639.015	29	M	Fatality	Occupation Not Listed
3	1290639.015	26	M	Fatality	Occupation Not Listed

Thank You for Visiting Our Website

You are exiting the Department of Labor's Web server.

The Department of Labor does not endorse, takes no responsibility for, and exercises no control over the linked organization or its views, or contents, nor does it vouch for the accuracy or accessibility of the information contained on the destination server. The Department of Labor also cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked Web sites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked Web site. Thank you for visiting our site. Please click the button below to continue.