High Pressure Incident

Safety Lesson Learned : High Pressure Incident
Location of Incident : USA

Brief Account of Incident
Contract personnel were installing a 3” flow line from a high pressure gas well to a compressor. Two roustabout crew, a backhoe operator and lease operator were present onsite. The flow line installation went uneventfully until the tie in to the compressor header. The flow line was laid in to the header, and a 90% connection was attached to the pipeline. The roustabouts began to thread the 3” pipe to make the connection. One employee went to the header and began to remove the victaulic clamp and blind so that the pipe line could be connected. He heard pressure, but assumed it would bleed off safely. He assured that his body position was not in front of the clamp and blind, and continued to release the bolts on the clamp one thread at a time, alternating between the left and right. Soon, the pressure inside the header trapped between the two valve caused the blind to exit the clamp forcefully, breaking two of the employees fingers and narrowly missing members of the roustabout crew who were in the line of fire.