Fatalities – pipe fell from skids
- Safety Flash
- Published on 6 December 2016
- Generated on 28 August 2025
- IMCA SF 33/16
- 1 minute read
The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) has published the following safety alert regarding an incident in which two persons were killed when they were crushed under a pipe that fell approximately 60cm from wooden support skids.
Position of pipe before falling from the two supports pictured (of eight total)
A section of 36-inch gas export line they were working under or near fell off the approximately 60cm high temporary wooden supports (skid stacks) and crushed them. The two employees, a grinder and a welder, were completing a construction weld repair at the north-eastern-most weld joint of an approximately 120m curved section of the export pipeline.
The IOGP report notes the following:
- The work permit system in place was rigorously applied to the known risks, but there was a lack of awareness of:
- The hazard presented by temporarily suspended pipes, which constituted a dynamic load/dropped object hazard
- The hazard of thermal expansion, differential heating, and residual pre-stress forces contributing to the lateral movement of curved pipe segments.
The full report can be found at safetyzone.iogp.org/SafetyAlerts/alerts/Detail.asp?alert_id=277.
Related Safety Flashes
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IMCA SF 08/06
22 June 2006
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