Accumulator Bottle Explosion Kills Rig Manager

Could This Have Been You?

Tell your crew about what happened to these workers. Failing to identify hazards before a job leads to many accidents in the oil and gas industry.

A rig manager was picking up two nitrogen bottles and two 10 gallon accumulator bottles from a third party distributor. The bottles were stored in a trailer and the rig manager needed to use a forklift to retrieve them. It’s believed that as the forklift driver backed away from the trailer, one of the accumulator bottles came off the pallet. The rig manager was on the driver’s side of the crew cab, 25 feet from the trailer, when the bottle struck the edge of the concrete pad and exploded, killing the rig manager.

The incident is being investigated, but in the meantime this company has reinforced its handling procedures regarding pressurized containers and is currently reviewing standards associated with maintenance of all pressurized cylinders.

Be sure your workers recognize the importance of securing all pressurized containers.