Struck-By, Caught-In, Caught-Between, and Machine Hazards

In the oil and gas extraction industry, fatalities as a result of struck-by, caught-in, and caught-between hazards are second only to fatalities caused by vehicle collisions. Many of the struck-by, caught-in, and caught-between injuries and deaths involve vehicle collisions. However, a wide variety of other types of heavy equipment and machinery is used in this industry. Examples of machinery and operations where workers face an elevated danger of being struck-by, caught-in, and caught-between include the following:

• Rider-operated bulldozers and graders used for leveling and excavating drill sites
• Failure or overload of hoisting equipment during the process of raising the dog house (the drilling rig office) and rig floor, which may crush, strike, or trap workers
• Movement of rotating wellhead equipment and swinging tubing, booms, rigging, chains, or pipes during various phases of drilling, which may strike or catch workers
• Continual movement of conveyer belts, such as the dragon's tail (the top end of the sand transfer belt on sand movers), which may catch workers and trap or crush them in the machinery
• Power tongs used to make-up tubing, which may pinch the fingers and hands of workers
• Flying particles released during hydraulic fracturing and other drilling operations, which may strike workers
• Pinch points, such as hammer union wings and hammers or pump iron and racks, which may catch or trap workers

These examples represent a small fraction of the potential accidents that workers in the oil and gas extraction industry face.

To learn more about Oil & Gas Extraction visit our Oil & Gas Extraction Safety Online Training web page.