Fatality Narrative: Well Driller Helper Killed When Stationary Well Drilling Truck Tips Over

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On July 20, 2007, a well driller helper died trying to free a well drilling truck stuck in the mud when it toppled over and pinned him underneath the rig. The 33-year-old victim had worked for the water well drilling company for the past three months. The well driller with 16-years experience and helper (the victim) had finished a well drilling job they had begun the day before. They were using a truck-mounted water well drill that had a total vehicle weight of about 70,000 lbs. It had been raining hard on and off for the past two days. As they were driving the truck away from the drilling site, the driver's side tires started to sink into soft, wet dirt, causing the truck to lean to the side on a ten percent slope. They backed up a few feet, stopped the truck, and put down the stabilizer jacks in the front and back of the truck. The victim placed 4' x 8' fiberglass "mud mats" under the truck in order to give the wheels some traction in the wet soil. The driller went to the rear of the truck to the stabilizer control station to raise the stabilizers so he could drive the truck onto the mats. Before he was able to do that, the victim went to the driver's side of the truck. Suddenly, the truck tipped over on the driver's side, striking and crushing the victim underneath. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Construction Industry Education Mortality Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Construction Construction Equipment Construction Workers Drilling Equipment Operation Fatalities Ground Control Ground Stability Hazards Safety Education Safety Measures Safety Practices Training Traumatic Injuries Truck Drivers Vehicle Safety Work Environment Workers Worker Safety

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• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051696
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-74-2008, 2008 Sep; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: well driller helper killed when stationary well drilling truck tips over
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:48a65e8c8bb26110b5aabd76ba84d30e4aad686aef82979b8a14c3694c02fdb6b199395857bb9dff46fcf2799db7ce48bce709bf679c6d306a5633a94db3b026
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228799/cdc_228799_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 49.48 KB ]