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Across Texas, oil jacks, also known as pumpjacks, are a familiar part of the landscape. From Houston’s industrial outskirts to the smaller fields of Central Texas, these machines drive one of the state’s most important industries. They operate day and night, pulling crude oil from beneath the surface and powering the state’s vast energy economy.
Oil jacks are mechanical devices used to pump oil from wells that no longer have enough underground pressure to push crude to the surface on their own. A motor powers a counterweighted beam (also known as a “sucker rod”) that moves up and down, driving a rod deep into the well to lift oil to the surface.
Working near a pumpjack means standing close to heavy moving parts, rotating beams, and high-pressure valves. A single failure or lapse in procedure can cause severe injuries. When accidents happen, they often involve crushing impacts, falls, or explosions caused by equipment malfunction or pressure buildup. In short, oil jacks are heavy, complicated and dangerous.
Each year, workers are seriously injured or killed while performing maintenance or operating equipment on oilfields. Moving machinery, high-pressure systems, and exposure to toxic gases create constant hazards. Despite ongoing safety efforts, fatal accidents continue to occur across Texas oil sites.
Most pumpjacks in Texas are located in high-production areas such as the Houston Energy Corridor, Harris County, and Montgomery County, as well as Central Texas counties like Burleson, Brazos, and Bell.
Recent Oil Jack and Drilling Accidents in Texas
Orla, 2023, hydrogen sulfide fatality
A worker at an oil and gas waste-treatment site near Orla died after exposure to hydrogen sulfide. The incident occurred near a sump pit, a confined space with inadequate ventilation. Key factors include insufficient atmospheric monitoring, lack of continuous H₂S detection, and probable deficiencies in confined-space entry controls.
Humble, Harris County, approximately 2019, rig collapse
A mobile drilling rig collapsed in the Houston region, killing one worker and injuring another. Preliminary accounts point to structural instability and potential load path failure during operation or repositioning. This type of event typically implicates deficiencies in inspection of mast or substructure members, improper guying or anchoring, and failures in lift planning or exclusion-zone control.
Texas statewide fatality trend, 2014-2019
Texas recorded 219 oil and gas extraction worker deaths in this period, the highest in the nation. Leading mechanisms were struck-by incidents and vehicle crashes. For pumpjack and surface-equipment work, “struck-by” often involves counterweights, crank arms, or dropped objects during maintenance, while transportation incidents reflect long commutes, night driving, and movement between leases.
OSHA Cases
OSHA inspection, December 12, 2024, blowout preventer release
Time: 5:00 p.m. An employee standing near the blowout preventer at the choke and kill manifold was fatally struck when a line became dislodged and high-pressure fluids released from the system. Causation indicators include improper pressure isolation, inadequate verification of zero-energy state, and deficient mechanical integrity of pressure-control components. Assessed penalty: $14,895.
OSHA inspection, June 6, 2024, workover rig platform drop
Time: 12:45 p.m. During preventive maintenance on a workover rig, a crew was stowing a metal work platform when a chain attached to the catline failed. The platform fell, pinning and killing an oil well driller. Contributing factors commonly include incorrect rigging hardware selection, degraded chains, missing secondary retention, and lack of a barricaded drop zone. Assessed penalty: $19,356.
Dangers of Working on Oil Jacks
We’ve mentioned previously that working on or even around oil rigs is dangerous. The following are a few of the major dangers that a worker might face on a rig.
Crushing and Entanglement
Working on a pumpjack combines rotating machinery, stored energy, and pressurized systems in a compact footprint. The walking beam, crank arms, pitmans, belts, and counterweights all move through predictable cycles, but any unexpected start, slip, or misalignment can turn predictable motion into a strike, crush, or entanglement event. Maintenance tasks often occur close to pinch points at the crank-pitman connection and around couplings and belts. Without verified lockout and a deliberate try-start, a unit that appears idle can cycle and pull a worker into the mechanism in seconds. Counterweights also store significant potential energy; if a technician removes pins or loosens components without blocking or cribbing the beam, that energy can release and drop the assembly.
Burns and Ballistic Injuries
Pressure control is a second critical hazard. Surface lines that route fluids to and from a wellhead, choke, or separator can fail from overpressure, worn threads, or gasket degradation. A line-of-fire exposure exists any time a worker stands in front of a charged connection, valve bonnet, or test plug. Verification of zero pressure must be more than cracking a fitting. Crews should isolate upstream and downstream, open a bleed-off to a safe location, and confirm with a calibrated gauge before breaking containment. During pressure testing, exclusion zones, certified relief devices, and documented hold times help prevent a catastrophic release that can produce lethal projectiles or fluid injection injuries.
Toxic Gases and Chemical Injuries
Atmospheric hazards are common around pump units, tanks, and sumps. Hydrogen sulfide requires continuous monitoring, personal detectors, wind awareness, and a clear path to muster points. Hydrocarbon vapors raise both inhalation and fire risk, especially during gauging, line breaks, or hot work. Work plans should define lower explosive limit setpoints and response actions. Produced water and treatment chemicals add corrosion and skin exposure concerns, so decontamination and proper gloves, eyewear, and garments are part of basic control.
Falling Injuries
Falls remain a frequent driver of serious harm. Technicians climb skids, ladders, and small platforms to service polish rods, gearboxes, and guards. Guardrails, engineered anchor points, or personal fall arrest systems should be standard, not optional. Mud, algae, and oil residue turn access points into slip hazards, so housekeeping and anti-slip surfaces matter as much as harnesses.
Poor Work Conditions
Human factors amplify every technical risk. Heat, long shifts, and night operations degrade situational awareness and slow reaction times. Rushed schedules can short-circuit pre-job planning and blur roles. A short, structured briefing that assigns responsibilities, reviews the specific pump model and task steps, and identifies line-of-fire zones often prevents cascading errors. Crews are taught to treat verification as a hard requirement, but on many rigs where efficiency and speed is more important that worker safety, injury and incident rates increase significantly.
Steps to Take After an Oilfield Accident
- Get to a safe location and call for help.
Move upwind and uphill if gas is suspected. Activate site alarms, call 911, and alert the site supervisor. - Seek immediate medical care.
Do not delay evaluation, even if symptoms seem minor. Ask for copies of EMS run sheets, emergency department records, imaging, and lab results. - Report the incident in writing.
Notify your supervisor or site manager as soon as possible. Request an incident or case number and keep a copy of any report you sign. Use plain facts about what happened and where you were working. - Preserve evidence.
Save your PPE and clothing unwashed. Photograph the scene, equipment position, controls, warning labels, guards, rigging, pressure gauges, and any alarms. Capture serial numbers, tag numbers, and data plates on the pump unit, motors, valves, and lines. - Identify documents and data.
Note where work orders, JSAs, permits, lockout/tagout forms, gas monitor logs, pressure charts, and maintenance records are kept. If possible, photograph these documents. Record the names and roles of everyone on the crew and any third-party contractors. - Avoid recorded statements and releases.
Do not give a recorded statement or sign incident forms, medical authorizations, or settlement documents provided by an employer or insurer until you have legal guidance. - Limit public discussion.
Do not post about the incident on social media. Keep communication factual and private. - Contact a Houston oilfield injury attorney promptly.
Time limits apply, evidence can be lost, and equipment may be repaired or moved. An attorney can send preservation letters and coordinate expert inspections.
Contact The Law Offices of Hilda Sibrian After an Oil Rig Injury
If you or a family member was hurt while working on a pumpjack or other oilfield equipment in Houston or Central Texas, The Law Offices of Hilda Sibrian can help. Our team investigates mechanical failures, pressure-control events, and toxic exposures, and we work to secure medical costs, lost income, and long-term care needs for injured workers and their families.
Call 713-714-1414 or use our online contact form for a free consultation.
