THE QUEENSLAND Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate has issued Safety Alert 42, after a rig worker was fatally crushed by pipe racks which fell off a truck.
The safety alert reminds all operators, staff, employees and contactors to take care when loading and unloading large heavy equipment from vehicles.
According to the incident report, the 24-year-old man was struck and crushed by pipe racks during an unloading operation at a drill site.
The Queensland Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate is still investigating the incident, but observed that load restraint bollards were only in place on one side of the truck.
The pipe rack groups had been separately tied down, but the upper layer was not removed before restraints were removed from lower layer of pipe racks.
Workers had also been standing in a high risk area adjacent to the vehicle, and there was a lack of risk assessment and use of standard operating procedures when unloading.
The safety alert recommends for restraint bollards to be used wherever practical for transport of pipe racks and other long loads, and for appropriate exclusion zones to be put in place when loading and unloading.
Organisations should review their detailed risk assessments, standard operating procedures, job safety analyses, and training and supervision requirements to ensure that this type of task and associated risks are adequately covered.
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