The oil and gas industry continues to have an unacceptably high injury rate and fatalities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational injuries covering the period 2003 to 2010, there were 823 oil and gas fatalities in the United States. Adhering to relevant federal regulations in the industry might save you lots of headaches, accidents and potentially hefty fines.
At the time, this number was seven times higher than all US industries. In 2018 and 2019, there were 130 and 127 fatalities, respectively. These numbers are still high for a sector that should have taken the lessons from disasters in the past and actioned the necessary measures to minimize injuries and fatalities.
Health and safety in oil and gas natural gas exploration and production is possible with the right equipment checklists and work ethic by the crew members, even with the increased use of risky hydraulic fracturing technologies by shale gas producers.
So, what is the problem? In most safety incidents, poor communication and reporting systems were fingered as a significant contributing factor. In many accidents, unsafe conditions were detected before the loss or precursor event but were not well captured, communicated, reported, and investigated to prevent the loss.
Rig checks are important for safety because they are an effective tool to reduce serious injuries and fatalities in the oil and gas industry. Having the ability to identify any unsafe conditions or practices on rigs and take prompt corrective actions. They also help to control costs associated with production delays and rig repairs, insurance costs and lost production due to shut-downs. Rig checks are essential for the safe operation of oil and gas facilities and associated equipment to minimize the risk of fires, explosions, falls, and other injuries. They ensure that equipment is properly maintained and ready for safe use.
Below are two examples of North American oil and gas production disasters where issue communication was a major factor.
Rig checks are conducted by the rig management team once per shift during the pre-operational inspection (POI) and once per shift during the operational inspection (OOI). It is a systematic review to evaluate and document conditions, including equipment, work practices, and procedures. During a rig check, the rig management team members review the status of each rig system and component and check their condition. They examine the gear to ensure it is clean, undamaged, and in serviceable condition. They also check the condition of electrical and mechanical systems and their safety devices.
Below are two examples of North American oil and gas production disasters where issue communication was a major factor.
The Oklahoma Rig Explosion is the deadliest oil and gas disaster since Deepwater Horizon. The 2018 explosion near Quinton, Oklahoma, occurred when gas escaped from an oil well, ignited, and killed five workers.
An investigation by the US Chemical Safety Board found several causes of the accident, key among them being a failure to conduct critical safety inspections and an overall lack of adequate safety management. For more than 14 hours before the explosion, dangerous conditions were building up in the well but seem not to have been identified or effectively communicated by oil workers.
To address the need for rig safety inspections Rig Check was developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in partnership with safety experts from the oil and gas extraction industry. It is made up of 35 inspection forms.
Each inspection form includes instructions on how to assess and record the condition of equipment and other relevant items for your operation by rig workers.
Rig workers must document the inspection of said tools and equipment commonly found on rotary and workover rigs frequently to ensure safety.
NIOSH published these as paper-based forms have excellent content, but the no-tech approach has significant limitations for recoding observations and controlling deficiencies that are found, not to mention, difficult to use.
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Many oil and gas producers still use antiquated manual methods to perform inspections and communicate issues. Below is the typical day of an inspector:
There are obvious disadvantages to this process:
To improve issue communication, oil and gas companies must turn to digital inspection and communication methods. Digital communication technologies help companies develop more efficient communication, remote monitoring, and real-time asset management on oil rigs and oil fields.
Transitioning to the digital era offers the potential to provide superior protection to staff, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate productivity.
Oil and gas operators must seek communication solutions that improve safety and operations, reduce operational costs, and better manage risk.
Enter the FTQ360’s NIOSH Rig Inspection checklists to the modern world of cloud-based mobile technologies. While maintaining backward compatibility to the NIOSH recommendations, FTQ360 has extended the capabilities to integrate photo documentation, dynamically expanding to verify each check made, and to document deficiencies that require correction.
The 35 checklists that are to be used by rig workers to document issues are based on the NIOSH checklists for these 9 main topics:
The FTQ360 Oil and Gas Software Platform is a quality management tool for oil and gas that helps companies conduct inspections while streamlining communications and sticking to industry recommended practices.
Streamlining issue communications is the first step to excellence. Here’s an at a glance overview of FTQ360’s standout features:
If you would like more information on how FTQ360 can help you streamline rig inspections and issue communications, check out a free demo.