Second pumpjack incident in weeks

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE — An oilfield worker in Alberta was pronounced dead at the scene after he became trapped under the counterweight of a pump jack on November 25, the second incident involving the mechanical oil pumps in as many weeks.

At about 3 pm, a 52-year-old man was working on an oil lease north of Rocky Mountain House, about 80 kilometres west of Red Deer, Alberta, when the deadly incident occurred, says Sorcha Thomas, a spokesperson for Alberta Human Services in Edmonton.

The employee of Paradis Pump Jack Maintenance was working on the unit’s assembly brake and the pump jack was not in operation, Thomas reports.

A stop-work order was placed on the pump jack and the boom truck used in the rescue operation, she says, explaining that the action was taken to ensure the vehicle was not damaged and would be safe for later use.

A week earlier in Nisku, Alberta, an inadequately secured pump jack component being lifted by a crane fell and landed on the 40-year-old crane operator. The worker was taken to hospital with lower body crushing injuries.

Work Safe Alberta issued a safety alert on pumpjacks in February of 2010, following separate incidents in which two workers were crushed by pumpjack counterweights.

The alert cautions workplace parties not to underestimate the danger of a pumpjack simply because they move more slowly relative to other machinery. Workers should never service the units while they are in operation, companies should install guards around rotating counterweights, and workers should wear hard hats while working around the equipment, all requirements of Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Code, it adds.

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