RWC – Caught between: Finger smashed by tooling
IADC has recently published a safety alert in which a crewman suffered multiple fractures on his right ring finger. His hand was caught in the jaws of a tong latch device used to handle drill pipe.
The immediate causes of the incident were found to be:
- Inappropriate or incorrect tools used for the job;
- Procedures not followed – handles (green in illustration) were provided but were not used;
- Complacency – no Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) was performed as the task was seen as ‘routine’;
- The tooling was so placed such that the supervising driller could not see what was going on.
The report can be downloaded from iadc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SA-15-05.pdf.
Members may wish to review the following similar incidents (search words: caught, finger):
- Lacerated finger during rigging operations
- Routine task: Badly cut finger changing mop head
- Hand injury during stowing of anchor chains
- Finger injury – pinch point – during hose handling
Members should be aware that IMCA has a pocket safety card on this topic – Watch your hands.
Safety Event
Published: 22 October 2015
Download: 
IMCA SF 16/15
IMCA Safety Flashes
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