Pyote, TX — A worker was injured on Tuesday of last week (August 11, 2015) in rural Pyote, which is in between Monahans and Pecos, after a fire broke out in the oilfield. Four workers were at the oilfield site that day, but only one worker was critically injured: Juan Renterria, who is in his 30’s.
According to the news reports, Renterria was working about 15 miles west of Pyote for a company called Viva Energy Services that day with about three other employees.
It’s not really clear what happened, but at some point during the day, there was a “flash fire” that left Renterria with very serious injuries. He was rushed to a hospital in Lubbock via medical helicopter and, as of last Friday, was still in critical condition.
The president of Viva Energy was identified as Bob Murray, out of Odessa, who said that this was the worst accident they’ve had to date. None of the other workers were as badly injured as Renterria, he said.
Right now, it looks like OSHA is investigating this.
Map of Pyote, TX
Commentary:
I took a look at Viva Energy’s record with OSHA and it appears this small company in West Texas has been investigated three times in 2014 and twice more in 2013. Some of these investigations resulted in “serious” safety violations from OSHA and well over $10,000 in fines. Some of the fines were related to issues with respiratory and safety gear, while one was directly related to gas exposure:
OSH ACT of 1970 Section (5)(a)(1): The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees: On or about May 22, 2013, employees were working on Rig #13 at a known hydrogen sulfide field. The employer did not ensure that the H2S monitoring system used had visual and audio alarms that could be seen or heard throughout the work area. Employees were exposed to potential hydrogen sulfide gas.
Now, don’t get me wrong here, I’m not trying to badmouth this company or air their dirty laundry for the world to see. What I shared here was public information that was gathered on the public domain. Rather, my point here is that if this company is so concerned with safety, then why does their track record seem to indicate differently?
The news articles all call this “flash fire” an accident, but if there was a more in-depth investigation done, would we find something else? Something doesn’t quite add up here and I wouldn’t be surprised if this OSHA investigation doesn’t result in a few more fines and citations as well.
— Grossman Law Offices
