OSHA cites oil company after workers suffer severe injuries in North Dakota well explosion
Federal workplace safety investigators determined that an oil company’s failure to take adequate safety precautions contributed to a drilling site explosion near Grassy Butte on Nov. 4, 2021, that permanently disabled one worker and left two others with serious injuries.
A U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation found KLX Energy Services – operating as KLX Wireline LLC – carelessly transported explosive materials and failed to take required precautions to protect workers and the public during blasting operations. The workers suffered shrapnel injuries when a perforating gun detonated as workers assembled a blasting cap on it to send down a well near Grassy Butte. The workers were using perforating guns to fracture the well bore.