Dropped Elevator Bumper Stop

Description of Incident

A rubber bumper stop for an elevator, weighing 0.6kg was discovered within the rig structure approximately 20 meters below the fixed mounted position of the bumper. Although unable to determine the exact moment the bumper dropped, it is accepted a dropped object incident occurred.

The investigation identified:

• The bumper was designed with a primary securing adhesive fixing the object to structure. There was no secondary retention method installed. When the primary securing failed, the bumper became a dropped object.

• The bumper stop was a previous design (2014). An updated design is more robust and includes a bolted connection (primary securing) with locking nut (secondary securing).

• The site DROPS Manual included the elevator, but did not specifically capture the rubber bumper stops, so these were not part of regular inspections. Note: It was revealed during the investigation that a similar incident has occurred to the same design of elevator. Both incidents occurred from an elevator installed for a derrick on a drilling rig.

Considerations:

Sites with elevators to perform inspection of rubber bumper stops, to determine the design and whether primary and secondary securing is installed.