A 35-year-old man died just days before Christmas, following a tragic accident at an eastern Oklahoma oilfield last Friday.
Victim was Harnessed to the Top of a Pulling Unit When It Collapsed
Police were called to the site near Preston, about 90 miles east of Oklahoma City, around 10:35 a.m. on December 22nd.
Robert Allen of Cushing died after an oilfield pulling unit collapsed.
Pulling units are used to make repairs to working oil wells. Allen was harnessed to the top of the unit when it fell.
Oilfield Death Being Treated as Workplace Accident
“We found an oil field pulling unit had been in the middle of pulling some sucker rods out of the ground at a well site,” Lt. Duston Todd of the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office told Oklahoma’s News 4.
“They said they were in the middle of pulling the pipe out of the ground when the platform began to shake and tipped over,” he continued.
The tragedy is being treated as a workplace accident.
The U.S. Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident in cooperation with Rick’s Well Service, the owner of the puling unit.
Oilfield Work is Inherently Dangerous
Some 545 deaths were reported at oilfields nationwide in 2016, representing an increase of 3.2% over the previous 5 years.
During that same period, Oklahoma saw oilfield deaths rise by 24%.
“The oil field’s inherently a dangerous place, so incidents do happen. It’s not the first time you’ve heard of an oil field worker getting killed in the line of duty,” Lt. Todd said.
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