An investigation into the death of an oil field worker by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uncovered two serious safety violations that contributed to the worker’s death: failing to prevent a struck-by injury by securing high pressure lines and failing to control the release of pressure from a pressure line. The Houston-basedHalliburton Company has been fined $14,000 for these serious workplace safety violations.
A “serious violation” under OSHA standards means that something went wrong that the employer could have or should have protected its employees from the possibility of substantial physical injury or death. Oil patch worker Mike Krajewski suffered fatal injuries in a workplace accident when a pipe came loose from a high pressure line and hit him in the head at a fracking site near Watford City.
This was the first time Halliburton had been cited for workplace safety violations by OSHA in North Dakota. Over the last five years, Halliburton sites across the country have been inspected 43 times by OSHA. Halliburton has 14 days to pay the fine or contest OSHA’s findings.
According to OSHA, the oil and gas industry is home to the most dangerous professions in the country. The fatality rate in the oil and gas industry is seven times higher than that of any other U.S. industry.
Source: RigZone, “OSHA Fines Halliburton in Death of a N.D. Worker,” July 17, 2013