U.S. Department of Labor Investigates Oil Field Worker Death

According to the Victoria Advocate, Oklahoma based oil and drilling company Helmerich & Payne Inc. is once again under scrutiny after one workplace death and two other injuries in late June.

Helmerich & Payne Inspections by OSHA

“Companies are mandated to report an incident to OSHA when three or more injuries requiring hospitalization or a fatality happen.” – Juan J. Rodriguez, deputy regional director at the U.S. Department of Labor to the Victoria Advocate.

• A man died June 20 on a Helmerich & Payne Inc. rig outside of Cuero, Texas.
• Less than a week later, on June 25, two men were injured when a crane broke at a well north of Yorktown.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the reported incidents.
• The June incidents are still being investigated.

Recent Violations of Helmerich & Payne

• In the past three years, H&P has been inspected 53 times nationwide.
• Of those 53 inspections, 18 occurred in Texas and 25 resulted in violations.
• The U.S. Department of Labor opened inspections in Midland in May, Livingston in April, and Pecos and Texon on February resulting in multiple violations.

Investigations into Other Companies

• Since 2010, Patterson Drilling has had 68 inspections nationally with 23 in Texas. The Texas inspections resulted in 5 total violations.
• Over the same period of time, Pioneer Drilling has been inspected 9 times in Texas and received 59 violations.
• Marianna McGee, compliance assistance specialist for the Corpus Christi office of the OPHA told the Victoria Advocate that oil and gas are high priorities for the office, but due to limited resources, they must focus on the most significant safety concerns.
• From 2003 to 2010, 823 oil and gas extraction workers were killed on the job.

Contact an Experienced Workplace Accident Attorney

Thomas J. Henry fight to protect the rights of workplace injury victims. If you or someone you love has been injured or killed on the job, contact Thomas J. Henry. The goal of our offices is to not only protect your rights, but to send a message so the same tragedy does not happen again. We represent clients/victims all over the country.