Hazards Associated with Tongs
Tongs are the large, counterweight-suspended wrenches used to "break out" the torqued couplings on the drill pipe.
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Both sets of tongs have safety lines; when breakout force is put on the tongs, employees should step back from the outside radius of the tongs in the event a tong slips or a safety line slips or breaks. In these instances, employees positioned in the path of travel can suffer serious injury.
Another likely accident can occur when the driller actuates the wrong tong lever and an unsecured tong swings across the rig floor at an uncontrolled velocity. Sometimes the wrong lever is pulled because the levers are not placed in such a manner as to make them readily distinguishable, and sometimes because the driller is distracted or fatigued.
A common accident attributable to tongs can occur when an employee has his hand or finger in the wrong place as he attempts to swing and latch the tong onto the drill pipe resulting in crushing injuries and amputations of the fingers.
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2-4. To stay safe, what should workers do when breakout force is put on the tongs?
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