Driller at Center of Oklahoma Well Blast has History of Deadly Accidents
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/driller_at_center_of_oklahoma_well_blast_has_history_of_deadly_accidents-26-jan-2018-153300-article//?all=HG2January 26, 2018
Patterson-UTI Energy, the contractor at the center of the deadliest U.S. drilling accident since the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in 2010, has the second worst worker fatality rate among its peers, according to federal workplace safety data.
Monday's disaster, which killed five workers drilling a well in eastern Oklahoma, put a spotlight on safety in the shale industry amid President Donald Trump's policy of boosting U.S. output of fossil fuels. Last month, the administration proposed scaling back offshore safety regulations imposed after the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 rig workers and caused a massive oil spill.
The cause of the Oklahoma blast, at a well being drilled for Red Mountain Energy by Patterson-UTI, has not yet been determined. The well's blowout preventer, equipment designed to seal a well in an emergency, was damaged by the explosion and failed to work as intended, authorities have said. Among offshore regulations the Trump administration wants to remove is a requirement for third parties to certify that safety devices work under extreme conditions.
Including Monday's incident, at least 13 workers have died at Patterson-UTI drilling sites in the past decade, according to a Reuters review of data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), whose functions include investigating workplace accidents.
Andy Hendricks, Patterson-UTI's chief executive, said in a statement earlier this week that "no one knows with certainty what happened, and it would be unwise to speculate." The company has made "significant efforts" in safety training and protective equipment "to instill a company-wide culture where safety is the top priority for each employee," a spokesman said.
Patterson-UTI's fatality rate is second only to rival Nabors Industries, which reported at least 20 worker deaths in the past decade, according to OSHA's fatalities and catastrophes report.
Over that same period, Helmerich & Payne - the onshore drilling company with the largest number of active rigs - has had five deaths, Precision Drilling Corp three, and Halliburton nine, according to the OSHA data....
