Larry D. Arnold v. Union Oil Company of California

GODBOLD, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Arnold was injured in an explosion and fire on a drilling platform off the Louisiana coast. Union Oil hired Arnold’s employer, Hydraulic Workover, Inc., to clean out a clogged well. As part of the job natural gas under pressure was brought in by hose from another well close by and its pressure used to force liquid out of the formerly clogged well, a technique known as “gas lifting.” Arnold had been employed by Hydraulic Workover for approximately two months. He was a class “C” worker, the lowest experience rating for a Hydraulic Workover employee. He had never…