The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Palestine, Texas-based Mercer Well Service for five repeat violations following an inspection at the company’s Colt 34-212 Field, Well No. 3H, Rig No. 39 work site, located 15 miles northwest of Pyote, Texas. Proposed penalties total $71,500.
OSHA’s El Paso Area Office began an inspection Nov. 16, 2011. Inspectors found four workers exposed to possible injuries from unguarded platforms, a lack of fire protection and caught-between/struck-by hazards while trying to retrieve a piece of broken pipe in a well hole.
The violations include failing to provide guardrails for employees working on platforms seven feet above the ground, provide standard railings on open sides of stairways, ensure that fixed stairs were uniform in rise height, provide required protection in case of fire and ensure that workers were protected from caught-between/struck-by hazards.
A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.
Similar violations were cited at locations in Texas in 2008 and 2009, and Pennsylvania in 2011.
Mercer Well Service, which employs about 800 workers nationwide, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s El Paso area director or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Source: OSHA
Topics Texas Workers' Compensation Energy Oil Gas
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