Early on the morning of Saturday, June 11, two men from Big Spring, Texas, were killed in an oil rig accident about 10 miles west of Lamesa. The accident is now under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which will determine if the accident was caused by unsafe working conditions.

The accident occurred at a rig operated by Robinson Drilling of Texas Ltd., which is based in Big Spring. The workers, who were 25 and 28-years-old, were reportedly killed after suffering head injuries when the kelly on the rig came to an abrupt stop, causing the rig's block to fall.

The 28-year-old, who had been working on the tongs, was struck in the head by the tong, and the 25-year-old, who had been throwing the chain on the rig, was hit in the head by the block itself, witnesses told officials from the Dawson County Sheriff's Office. Evidently, both of the hard hats worn by the men appeared to be damaged when officials arrived at the scene.

The younger of the two men was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident at about 5:40 a.m., and the older of the two men was brought by helicopter to University Medical Center in Lubbock where he died around 9:00 a.m.

"The incident is still being carefully investigated by very qualified investigators," a spokesperson for the drilling company said. "That includes certainly OSHA of course but also experts from inside and outside our company."

The spokesperson also said that the drilling company is "very sorry for the lass of life," but did not comment on whether the rig was still in operation.

OSHA officials, per protocol not to comment on ongoing investigations, have not yet released any findings, but did say that it could take up to six months to conduct a complete investigation. Of course, if the drilling company is at fault in any way, it would likely be possible for the families of the workers killed to bring wrongful death lawsuits against the company for damages.

Source: MyWestTexas.com, "OSHA investigating fatal oil rig accident involving 2 Big Spring men," Sara Higgins, 6/14/2011.