A web-based safety alert index system has been created by an Aberdeen company in a bid to improve safety in the upstream oil&gas industry through learning from past mistakes.
The Drillers.com initiative is apparently a first and makes it possible to see oil&gas safety alerts in different parts of the world.
There are currently more than 1,600 safety alerts indexed on the oil-industry professionals’ website.
Drillers.com says it will continually update the index so that oilfield supervisors can easily find alerts relevant to current and planned operations.
Steve Devereux, who launched the Aberdeen firm, said: “In the event of an incident, industry organisations around the world issue safety alerts explaining what happened; what, if anything, went wrong; the safety risks, and the lessons learned.
“At the moment, anyone seeking to access these alerts would have to trawl through individual company or trade organisation websites, which means they would have to be aware of the incident in the first place and know which company is involved. Drillers.com indexes these on the site so they can be accessed quickly and easily.
“The aim is for people to learn from some of the very valuable lessons these alerts highlight. Searching the index produces a list of links to the original alerts.”
Recent safety alerts reveal lessons learned from incidents, including an electric shock while carrying out routine maintenance on lighting systems; electrical arc flash injury involving an extension cord; confined space activity resulting in loss of consciousness, and a dropped drill string.
Drillers.com is an online resource that was set up by Devereux, a chartered engineer with 30 years of oilfield drilling experience, to help oilfield workers to do their jobs properly.
Its key features are MathcCad worksheets that allow users to make accurate calculations relating to complex drilling operations and an online manual which has up-to-date, wide-ranging information on drilling – from theoretical and practical issues to job and safety procedures, checklists, glossaries and a useful list of industry abbreviations and links.
It also provides information on current projects, job vacancies, training and general oil&gas market intelligence.