DROPS Forum - Muscat Oman, 15th October 2012

Raul Restucci, the MD of PDO opened the Forum. He welcomed everyone and thanked them for supporting the DROPS Forum in Muscat. The scene was set for the day with an overview of DROPS explaining that is we have now over 130 members worldwide and covers the full supply chain from design and procurement through to dismantlement and decommissioning. DROPS has penetrated every area of upstream exploration and development and is recognised as a leading resource for dropped object prevention guidance and best practice in the workplace.

DROPS still faces challenges as these incidents do still occur and it’s not just an offshore drilling problem. The Best Practices and Guidance available from the DROPS website are easily translated and adaptable to suit land-based drilling and he encouraged everyone to take a look (www.dropsonline.org). 

We were wished a successful forum and a group photo opportunity was taken.

Drops Inspections – Do we see the risks? – Ronald van As, PDO 
Ronald demonstrated the timeline of DROPS statistics within PDO from 2007 to present day. These showed an increase in dropped objects. A variety of worksite hazard management implementations have been put in place but incidents are still happening. 

Shown were 2 serious incidents that occurred this year:

• A kelly that was racked back in the derrick when running casing, a practice that had been in place for 20 years, was struck and fell to the floor
• an unstable floor plate had been accepted until it fell 9m down in the sub base and took the guy who stood on it with it (luckily he survived)

This raises the question of “do we really see what we are looking at”. In DROPS we are good at identifying tools left behind, nuts and bolts not secured, shackles without a safety pin, even things falling when being hoisted. These are all events that are sort of predictable, but how good are we to come up with the less predictable incidents, say the more dynamic situations. Based on what we saw here, these non predicted incidents could have had a much bigger impact than the regular DROPS events; in our case we easily could have had 5 fatalities. What do we need to do better? We should be ensure that proper risk assessments are done for any new equipment, have any DROPS surveys done professionally, and re-emphasise the DROPS Principle.

Drops Inspections – Well Engineering North – Hilal Al Rushedi, PDO 
The presentation highlighted some serious issues with dropped objects that has either happened or been closely prevented from an incident occurring. The same issue with clamps for forklifts was again highlighted. Also shared were questions around the use of double-lock nuts and hang-off points for ESP sheaves. 
Housekeeping problems are apparent in some areas and people need to be aware that these can cause serious injuries. A variety of other examples were displayed of equipment that was inadequately secured, home-made or missing secondary retention. The message to all attendees is to work together to change the mind-set and eliminate the potential for dropped objects occurring. 

Drops Inspections – Well Engineering South – Mohamed Ruqaishi/A Petant, PDO/Dalma 
The experiences and challenges that the south units of PDO face were shared and discussed. The statistics of incidents were shown and demonstrated that there was a rise in incidents occurring from 2008 to 2009. When a Dropped Objects prevention procedure was rolled out within the organisation, there was a significant drop in these types of incidents occurring. However, from 2011 onwards there is a high frequency of HiPOs (High Potential) incidents which fortunately only resulted in 3 LTIs. After analysing the eight HIPOs he major gaps in inspection and maintenance practices were the dominating factor for the HiPOs in 2011. An example of the inspection and compliance record was shown. The way forward and challenges highlighted that improved awareness is essential. Effective and timely maintenance is critical and a high level of ownership from both contractor and operators is crucial. 

Drops Inspections – Well Engineering Exploration – Laun Miller/Alok Jain, PDO
Laun’s presented outlined how they are trying to eliminate dropped objects by raising the awareness of personnel about the hazards. A variety of initiatives have been rolled out and further implementation of DROPS measurements which include communication of the scale of the problem. Weekly inspections examples were displayed along with a DROPS checklist and report. The positive message is that we are moving forward and they are constantly developing and improving to eliminate dropped object incidents. Some incidents before implementing measures were shown. These types of incidents are still out there but the awareness is better. A great example of a positive outcome was shown whereby they worked together with a manufacturer to develop a lifting clamp. 

A Commitment to Prevent Dropped Objects – Mohamed Al Harthy, OPAL 
Mohamed gave a thought provoking presentation and re-emphasised that the essence of DROPS starts at management level and is filtered downwards. If we can get everyone to master the understanding of gravity and how this is relative to everyone then dropped object incidents can be prevented in any industry. OPAL is keen to promote the message of DROPS and we look forward to a long relationship with them. http://opaloman.org/ 

OPAL welcomed everyone along to a defensive driving course that they are running the rest of the week. 

DROPS Global Update – Allen Smith, DROPS 
Allen gave a brief overview of the membership to DROPS and displayed the global map of members. He covered the upcoming forums, focus groups and training. We have a couple of legacy work groups continuing into 2012 and these are namely DORIS, DROPS Translations and DROPS Training & Campaign Packs. 

Overviews of current Focus groups that are being worked are:

• Reliable Securing Update and Technical Review Team - Main objective to update and extend the scope of the Reliable Securing Booklet, also gathering feedback into new methods of retaining/securing; who is using the booklet; what is available out there
• The new SFS book is available now and it will be broken down to identify additional content and verify the information from the existing guidelines. The team will be meeting early November.
• Behavioural issues – Improving Performance with Behavioural change

Implementing DROPS – Lee Hogan, Seadrill 
Lee also reiterated that although improvement has been made, there are still dropped objects occurring which dominating the industry. The commitment of everyone is essential for progress. Within Seadrill there were a variety of prevention of dropped object campaigns that have been delivered whereby topics were run for 2-3 months and actions were developed and followed up to ensure an effective completion. Actions to eliminate DROPS include effective workplace inspections, safeguards for tools at Height, Management Systems, good communication and training. The risk tolerance needs to be improved across the industry. 

DROPS Intiative and Learnings – Rod West, Qatar Shell 
Rod outlined the exposure risk areas that are within Qatar Shell. These include onshore and offshore rigs, vessels, logistics base and civil construction. The lifecycle approach to DROPS in Qatar Shell was demonstrated and this follows the basic DROPS Principles of eliminating throughout the supply chain. Examples of loose and redundant equipment were shown and the example of the equivalent weight of a Mini Cooper was removed after being found during a derrick a hazard hunt. Red Zones are identified and enforced which can be used by anyone during a toolbox talk. Some learning’s included a food container arriving at a logistics base. Whilst being moved by forklift, part of the door fell off. Plotting this in the DROPS Calculator demonstrated that this incident could have been a fatality. Another example was from a crane that had no secondary retention on the hook. An AAR concluded that any crane coming into Shell Qatar has to have a secondary locking mechanism on hooks. Rod also shared a table that is used for determining a working load limit during lifting operations. 

Drops Inspections – Trends and Findings – Leon Dashwood, OES 
Leon emphasised that when they go out on inspections, the understanding of dropped objects is very poor. Management buy-in is essential to get this rolled out. Improvements occur when regular surveys are undertaken. These should include a sweep prior to any rig up/rig down. Rolling briefs should be delivered that safety awareness is high priority. Management only delegate duties not the responsibility. Everyone needs to play their part in preventing DROPS from occurring. Some land rig findings were displayed. The findings resulted in 60 observations when the rig was inspected internally. When inspected by a 3rd party inspection company, a further 20+ were discovered. Some photos of typical findings were displayed. 

Egyptian Drilling Company – DROPS Campaign 2010-2012 – Richie Adams, EDC 
Richie began his presentation by emphasising there is bad news and good news on DROPS. The bad news is it is still out there still harming and fatal. The good news is the solution is the DROPS SMS based on robust observation techniques and sound maintenance systems. It is that simple, it is not Rocket Science, as two previous speakers have already mentioned. This is a very important message we must obtain an understanding of on the rigs and elsewhere within the industry. He went on to share some of the challenges and solutions that EDC experienced during their 2010-2012 DROPS Campaign. One major challenge is getting the men on the units to take DROPS seriously, because too often they think they do not need a DROPS SMS or have a problem if they have not had a DROPS event. This alone does not mean they have do not have the some issues as everyone else it just means they have not had an incident yet! Other challenges include control of investigations, red zones, tools at height, rig inspections and through the supply chain. The EDC stats show 45 actual and 24 potential in 2011 and in 2012 to date there were 23 actual and 13 potential although this is still unacceptable EDC feel they must be getting something right. A huge challenge is to conduct through investigations; the rigs simply stop after identifying the underlying cause, and fail to recognise the root causes. The understanding of why these incidents happen is essential if we are ever going to have a chance of stopping them happening. A Safety Management System has been put in place, 23 rig audits and 6 follow ups have been carried out since April this year. Formal training has been delivered for from 38 sessions 486 men at the EDC Training centre in Cairo and 43 rigs of the 72 rig fleet has been sent an awareness training package which will train every single person on the rigs. EDC rigs also have DROPS work packs on them and an EDC Manual was published and distributed to their fleet. The manual includes procedures for Red Zones and Tools at Height. Everything that EDC have used has come from DROPS and they enhanced the material with their own additional procedures and requirements. Richie explained the great thing about the DROPS Forum is the all the information you need is provided through coming to forums to share experiences and learning from each other. Also by visiting the website you can download the various items. No one has to reinvent the wheel. 

Open Floor and Any Other Business 
What next – all attendees. The following bullets were volunteered by some attendees for the focus and commitment in the Middle East:

• Walk the talk, not just talk the talk
• More training
• Top down driven – implement locally
• Hearts & Minds
• DROPS Forums in the region are good, but not enough
• Training & Awareness
• OPAL will take a lead with promoting DROPS, implementing them and forums in the region
• Site/field forums in Oman
• Use the DROPS Best Practices and shared information positively

Closing Statement – Khamis Al Saadi, PDO 
Khamis closed the forum on behalf of PDO and emphasised that it was clear from the attendance at today’s event, that Dropped Object prevention is critical. DROPS is a culture and behavioural safety issue the can be enforced and changed. It is important that inspections are done and that records kept to date. The clear message to everyone is that DROPS is not magical, it is preventable and everyone can make a difference. Everyone was thanked for their participation and DROPS for their support.