Fatalities – pipe fell from skids

The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) has published the following safety alert regarding an incident in which two persons were killed when they were crushed under a pipe that fell approximately 60cm from wooden support skids.

A section of 36-inch gas export line they were working under or near fell off the approximately 60cm high temporary wooden supports (skid stacks) and crushed them. The two employees, a grinder and a welder, were completing a construction weld repair at the north-eastern-most weld joint of an approximately 120m curved section of the export pipeline.

The IOGP report notes the following:

• The work permit system in place was rigorously applied to the known risks, but there was a lack of awareness of:
  • The hazard presented by temporarily suspended pipes, which constituted a dynamic load/dropped object hazard
  • The hazard of thermal expansion, differential heating, and residual pre-stress forces contributing to the lateral movement of curved pipe segments.

The full report can be found at safetyzone.iogp.org/SafetyAlerts/alerts/Detail.asp?alert_id=277.

Members may wish to refer to the following incident (search word: pipe):

• Serious injury during pipestalk rolling operation