An Apr. 13 safety alert shows how the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is approaching its mission in its early days as a separate agency from the Department of the Interior.
The alert contained recommendations based on its investigation of an Apr. 18, 2011, platform plugging and abandonment accident that killed a worker. It also contained recommendations to prevent the recurrence of such an incident, according to BSEE's Gulf of Mexico regional office in New Orleans.
The incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. on the WC 643 "A" platform on West Cameron Block 643 as work was under way to plug and abandon the wells and decommission the platform, BSEE said in its investigation report.
The P&A operations used a power swivel skid, casing jack, and crane, it said. As the crane was moving the power swivel from atop the well, a roustabout, who was not identified in the report, was acting as a rigger to help control the load when he stepped, or was dragged by the load, into an opening in the deck, which was exposed by the power swivel's lift, the report said. The roustabout died in the subsequent 30-ft fall.
BSEE said its investigators found that the onsite supervisor and employees did not have an emergency plan with readily available medical evacuation procedure and contact information. The accident occurred shortly after a shift change at night, and the preshift job safety analysis (JSA) meeting did not address the main deck opening covered by the power swivel. It also was not attended by all parties including the roustabout, and no signed, unique JSA form was created. No fall protection was provided as required by company policies, BSEE, and the US Coast Guard.
Other problems
The power swivel skid was equipped with two, 3-ft long "tag lines" which required riggers to be close to the load. The lines were attached to the power swivel in a way that made them drag across the deck opening as the skid was moved.
Other P&A equipment on the platform was positioned poorly, and interfered with the crane lift and move operation. There was no clearly designated, direct supervision of the lift probably because of the supervisor's multiple responsibilities.
BSEE's recommendations included prominently displaying medevac procedures and contacts and making sure all crew members know the information; reviewing organization of multiple simultaneous tasks; making fall protection available and using it near open holes; evaluating each lift's risks and reviewing appropriate tag lines and their use; and assigning enough supervision during P&A and platform decommissioning.
BSEE said it would consider all the recommendations before taking enforcement actions.
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