Autopsy shows oil worker fell to his death after explosion
Amy Dalrymple Forum News Service
Jun 24, 2016
WATFORD CITY, ND -- An autopsy shows that an oilfield worker who died Saturday was killed as the result of a fall, the second time a worker for the same company has been hurt in a fall in the past eight months.
State Forensic Medical Examiner William Massello III listed the cause of death for 52-year-old Johnny Stassinos as blunt chest, abdominal and pelvic injuries that resulted from a falling from a height associated with a petroleum site explosion near Watford City.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration continues to investigate the incident that killed Stassinos and injured three others who were on a workover rig when the oil well ignited.
Stassinos, a well operator for Most Wanted Well Service, died at Trinity Hospital in Minot later the same day. An obituary says Stassinos, of Rock Springs, Wyo., is survived by his wife, four children, two stepchildren and a grandchild.
The incident marks the second time in less than a year that a Most Wanted Well Service employee suffered injuries stemming from a fall while working on a North Dakota well site owned by XTO Energy, according to OSHA records.
OSHA issued a citation to Most Wanted Well Service after investigating a Nov. 23, 2015, incident that involved a worker who suffered fractures and lacerations from a fall while escaping from a “snubbing basket” on a workover rig without an adequate escape line. OSHA classified the citation as a serious violation, issuing a fine of $2,800.
In that case, the worker was in a basket 27 feet above ground and the means of escape available to him were a ladder and a nylon rope, according to OSHA records. A slide pole was installed, but the OSHA report said it was impossible to use because of a wind tarp wrapped around the snubbing basket.
A well blowout occurred, making the ladder impractical to use because the worker would have had to go through high-pressure crude and brine, the OSHA report says. The employee slid down the rope with his hands and arms and fell about 10 feet to a trailer. He rolled onto the ground after hitting the trailer, documents show.
Eric Brooks, area director of the Bismarck OSHA office, said the investigation into Saturday’s incident is still ongoing and he couldn’t comment on whether it involved a similar safety violation.
Both incidents involved crews working on the same type of well servicing operation.
Three other workers suffered serious injuries in Saturday’s explosion.
Daniel Montes, 28, Fruita, Colo., and Richard Maheu, 27, Rock Springs, Wyo., suffered severe burns and were being treated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Maheu was listed in critical condition Friday. Regions Hospital did not have any information to release about Montes, but a fundraising site for him says he remained hospitalized Friday. Both suffered third-degree burns on 70 percent of their bodies.
Stasinos was the owner/operator of the workover rig. Here is his company's ad.
