BackDROPS Forum - Aberdeen, 6th December 2012
Greg Reid opened the Forum and gave a Safety Brief. Many new faces were in attendance and introductions were duly given.
DROPS Update – Greg Reid, DROPS
Greg presented a general DROPS update, as follows:
MEMBERSHIP : The following new DROPS members were welcomed - Pro3 Products Pty Ltd Australia; Uniclimb Services Pte Ltd Singapore, DOF Subsea AS Norway; Setcore Arabia Petroleum Saudi Arabia; Cotech IRM Services Inc, USA; Kebabangan Petroleum Operating Co, Malaysia.
Disappointment was shared at the loss of the following members who chose not to re-subscribe for 2012-2103: Wood Group PSN; Thiess Degremont; EDF Energy.
DROPS INTERNATIONAL: Since our last Aberdeen Forum in September, there has been a further UK Forum in Norwich (sponsored by DSL), a Middle East Forum in Oman (sponsored by PDO) and an Australian Forum in Brisbane focused on the region’s Coal Seam Gas (CSG) sector (sponsored by Santos/Arrow Energy/Moduspec).
DROPS Asia had planned a Malaysian Forum for November but this was cancelled and will be rescheduled in 2013. Greg reminded all that details of Asian events are posted online at www.dropsasia.com.
Bob Thomson of Chevron is relocating from USA to Indonesia. Bob was a former Global DROPS Steering Committee member and more recently a key player in DROPS USA. We wish Bob every success in his new role and hope to see his influence in the DROPS Asia chapter. We hope to convene DROPS USA chapter early 2013 to help plan to re-engage and refocus regional members.
Tentative discussions have begun on a possible 2013 Middle East Forum in Egypt.
DROPS TRAINING : Since last forum, DROPS Training and Awareness has been delivered in Norwich, Oman, South East Asia, Sakhalin Island (Russia), India and South Africa as well as several sessions at Silverdot’s offices in UK. DROPS Train-the-Trainer sessions will continue to be hosted regularly in UK – see website for details.
2013 DROPS FORUMS : UK Forums will be held in Aberdeen (Marcliffe Hotel) on Thursday 28th February, Thursday 30th April, Thursday 12th September and Wednesday 4th December. A return visit to SNS region (possibly Great Yarmouth) is under consideration for Autumn.
A Forum will be held in Netherlands in October with date and venue to be advised. A Forum will be held in Norway in September. This forum will be integrated into a broader regional event and workshop with details (including date and venue) to be announced in due course.
DROPS BACKROOM : Thanks to all for their feedback in response to member query on UKCS legislation and requirements for Rig Operators in respect of dropped objects. Greg presented a member’s concerns over Forklift / Loader clamps and showed the member’s suggested solution. Subsequent discussion around room noted no particular concerns on this issue. However, one member did note that the scenario shown was from the Forestry sector, that timber is compressible and this should be a consideration. Further details are available here.
Greg confirmed that FAQ section on website (with most commonly recurring enquiries) would go live before next forum It was announced that DROPS Membership will be terminated on January 1st 2013 for all member companies who have ignored repeated requests for payment of their DROPS subscriptions. A final reminder to this effect will be issued pre-Christmas.
The Steering Committee will discuss and agree sponsorship opportunities for 2013 and advise details at next Forum.
Lifting in Drilling Areas – Jan Olav Farstad, Statoil
Jan outlined key concerns and issues that can be experienced whilst lifting within the drilling area. The PSA in Norway has called on all companies to do everything they can to remove hazards. 80% of activity on a drill floor relates to lifting operations and even the smallest mishap can have major consequences. Photos were shown of examples where a lifting operation had failed and the resulting damage. Statoil have several initiatives to help eliminate hazards and these include; a Safe Use of Lifting Equipment standard for use in the drilling areas; E-learning and Instructor Training is also being developed.
Follow this link to download the presentation.
Reliable Securing Computer Training Course – Harald Myklebust, DOM Group
Harald gave an overview of DOM and gave an outline of the services that they provide. These include Site Inspections, Dropped Object Survey management, Dropped Object Management and Prevention Training etc. The clear message given was be prepared to invest and prepare with regards to preventing Dropped Objects. The two most difficult behaviours encountered by DOM are attitude and pro-activity. We were introduced to their new training course that has been developed for online interactive dropped object prevention. The course themes are Risk during work at heights; Securing devices; Securing of tools; Securing of equipment; Inspection, Identification and control. The training portal is available via www.trainingportal.no and further information on DOM is available from www.domgroup.no.
HSE Update – Donald Dobson, HSE
Donald gave an HSE update and overview of dropped object incidents and statistics for 2012 and drew a comparison against 2011 performance. His analysis presented a similar pattern – dropped objects still remain very high, there appears to be no marked improvement. Donald included a breakdown of derrick versus well ops incidents, and interrogated the statistics by cause, discipline, activity etc.
Follow this link to download the presentation.
Safe Bolting – Richard Waddington, Nordlock
We were given a demonstration of Nord-lock washers by Richard, where he gave an overview on bolted joints and examples of loose bolts and nuts. Nord-Lock washers secure bolted joints with tension instead of friction and help avoid such incidents. The system is comprised of a pair of washers with cams on one side and radial teeth on the opposite side. Since the cam angle is greater than the thread pitch, a wedge effect is created by the cams, preventing the bolt from rotating loose. The live demo presented different scenarios using various types of locking systems that were then tension tightened. The vibrating simulation demonstrated how quickly the tension can be either lost or kept the same. Richard discussed the benefits of using Nord-Lock washers. He highlighted the free online training package and invited members to visit their website www.nord-lock.com or email info@nord-lock.com for further details.
Follow this link to download the presentation.
DROP Cone Calculator – Colin Esslemont, Centrica
Colin presented a Cone Calculator that has been developed within Centrica to help understand the potential trajectory and impact of dropped objects and therefore help in considering the appropriate extent of barriered zones beneath work at height. The tool is a simple Excel file where object mass and height are entered.
Follow this link to download the presentation and calculator tool.
Reliable Securing Focus Group Update
The updated Norwegian SFS Best Practice book has been reviewed by the Focus Group and significant new content was identified for potential use in the updated DROPS Reliable Securing booklet. The team met to agree the foregoing and to discuss and agree further suggested improvements. An action list was duly compiled and circulated to all Focus Group members. The new document structure was broken down and volunteers were sought to take responsibility for individual section updates in advance of the next planned Focus Group meeting on 6th February. Volunteer Reviewers are being sent review instructions pre-Christmas. Longer term, the 6th February meeting will serve for collating all updates and addressing any consensus requirements with a view to presenting an outline draft at February Forum and Summer issue of the formal update.
Behavioural Issues Focus Group – Improving Performance with Behavioural change
The group meet regularly and issued their first deliverable at the Forum today – a poster. This is also available to download on this link. The next stage for the group is to develop a questionnaire to be used in gathering information from the offshore crews on their perceptions, feedback on DROPS and dropped object prevention. The analysis of the results will be reported at a future DROPS forum. These results will form the basis of the way forward for the group. If you have an idea for the proposed questionnaire, please email secretary@dropsonline.org
Potential DO Incident – Allan Johnson, Rowan
Allan’s presentation described an incident where a dolly guard plate fell and landed next to an individual. Pictures showed before and after the incident. Underlying causes included design restrictions for inspection purposes; fatigue cracking; impact damage and inadequate roller replacement frequency outside OEM recommendations. The root causes were discussed and a new roller design was shown.
Follow this link to download the presentation.
Open Floor and Any Other Business
Greg thanked everyone for their participation and invited the attendees to offer any issues for further discussion in the open floor session. Several member operators confirmed that they are seeing witnessing similar comparisons to the HSE statistics in regard to the frequency of incidents during Production operations. Greg reminded all members that 2013 / 2014 Focus Groups would be decided at next DROPS Forum in February