Injury from a hardened steel sledgehammer

Incident

A driller was using a hardened steel sledgehammer to help break out a hardened steel drill rod on a reverse circulation drill rig when a piece of the hammer splintered off and lodged in his shoulder.

Equipment

Hardened steel sledgehammer.

Hazard

Hardened steel tools used to hit hardened steel parts/objects can shatter or splinter, creating flying shards of steel.

Cause

  • Lack of knowledge on the hazards of using hardened steel hammers on hardened steel parts.
  • Poor communication between maintenance and operations personnel on this hazard.
  • Failure to implement an earlier decision to consider alternatives to the sledgehammer for manual handling reasons.

Comments

An incident review indicates this may be standard practice in many exploration operations.

Recommendations

  • Review site procedures and practices to ensure that hardened steel sledgehammers are not used on hardened steel parts and equipment.
  • If a sledgehammer is required, ensure it is made from an alternative material, e.g. a copper faced hammer.
  • Where possible investigate alternatives to using a sledgehammer, for example, when breaking out rods is a C-clamp appropriate?
  • Ensure that workers are aware of this hazard.
  • Hardened steel sledgehammer with steel shard