Oil industry worker in Alaska North Slope dies in work accident

A worker died at an oil field in Alaska over the weekend. This is the third fatal industrial accident in the oil industry on the North Slope in 13 months.

Randy Lytle, 62, was an employee of MagTec Alaska. He died Saturday morning while clearing snow at the Milne Point oil field, a state official and companies familiar with the incident said.

Further details about the incident were not released. A family member declined to comment.

The state launched an investigation the day of the death and conducted an on-site inspection on Monday, said Dale Williamson, director of the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health enforcement agency.

Companies involved in the field operations said they responded quickly.

“We immediately stopped all work at Milne Point and launched an investigation,” said Luke Miller, a spokesman for Hilcorp, the operator and owner of the field. “MagTec Alaska, CCI Industrial Services and Hilcorp continue to work closely with the relevant authorities.”

MagTec’s primary business in Prudhoe Bay is drilling support by loading, transporting and dumping drill cuttings in the ground for disposal, said MagTec President Ryan Peterkin.

“Based on MagTec’s initial investigation, neither the employee nor MagTec were responsible for this tragic accident,” Peterkin said.

The companies involved in the incident are cooperating with state and federal authorities, Peterkin said. He said MagTec will release more details about the incident once the investigation is complete.

“Our support, thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family, friends and colleagues as they mourn the loss of their loved one,” Peterkin said.

CCI Industrial Services, which also provides oilfield support at Milne Point, said it was cooperating with the investigation.

“We are deeply saddened by what happened Saturday morning and our prayers are with the families and friends of those affected,” a CCI spokesperson said in a statement. “The tragic incident occurred during snow removal operations and resulted in the death of an employee of another contractor. We are working with all appropriate authorities to ensure a clear understanding of the incident and to take action to improve health and safety at work.”

Several deaths

Last year, two more workplace deaths occurred at various North Slope oil industry sites.

Taken together, these three deaths represent an unusually high number of fatalities in a relatively short period of time in the region’s oilfield business, according to media reports and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration records.

These appear to be the first workplace deaths since December 2018, when a 36-year-old man died at the Milne Point field after a 318-kilogram drill pipe struck him in the head. Hilcorp, the field’s operator, and a Hilcorp drilling contractor each paid about $25,000 in state fines for that death.

In June last year, a 27-year-old man died at the Northstar oil field after being struck by a rod thrown from a well valve, according to a federal fatality report.

The field is owned and operated by Hilcorp. The man was employed by Halliburton, an energy services company.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Halliburton a total of about $70,000 for several violations related to the fatal accident that involved unsafe working conditions, according to the federal agency’s fatality report.

According to the report, Halliburton is contesting the subpoenas.

On the day the Halliburton worker died, employees were exposed to injury because gears were incorrectly installed in the valve piston.

The gearbox also did not have “the same stainless steel hardness as the manufacturer’s original part,” according to the violation.

In April last year, a 23-year-old man died in a workshop in Deadhorse, an industrial community that serves the Prudhoe Bay oil fields, suffering head injuries after falling onto an icy surface while carrying a pipe over his shoulder, a state statement said last year.

The 23-year-old was employed by Worley Alaska, a construction and oilfield services company. He was based at Hilcorp and was following the oil producer’s instructions, state inspectors said.

The state investigated his death and warned last year that employers should use mechanical methods such as forklifts to transport materials whenever possible and use surface scarring, traction materials or traction devices to protect against falls.

According to a fatality report from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the investigation was closed in August without a subpoena.

Hilcorp Alaska, a leading oil producer in Alaska, has been repeatedly penalized for operational violations in Alaska. The company became a major player on the North Slope in 2020, taking over management of the massive Prudhoe Bay oil field after buying BP’s Alaska assets for $5.6 billion.

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