27 Jul The 3 Most Vital Tips for Safely Setting Up the Drill Rig Substructure

The U.S. oil industry is reaching some of its highest production levels in history. It’s no surprise that American oil and gas companies added 4.5 billion barrels of crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves in 2012 — a 15.4% increase from 2011 and the largest year-over-year increase since 1970. These days, the oil and gas industry helps supply 9.8 million jobs, and there are enough oil reserves on hand to meet at least another 53.3 years of production.

One of the most key pieces of oil drilling rig systems is the rig substructure. The first step in setting up a drill rig, setting up the rig substructure involves unloading equipment and moving it to the location where it will remain during drilling. From there, personnel must assemble, weld and level the various pieces of equipment. During this process, personnel can become injured due to a number of hazards that exist.

Are your personnel being as safe as they should be while setting up the drill rig substructure? To improve the safety of your oil drilling equipment, be sure to follow these three impossible-to-ignore tips:

Train all personnel on safety measures

First and foremost, all personnel must be properly trained in safety procedures and job hazards for setting up the rig substructure. Whether the training takes place during pre-job safety meetings or during JSA briefings, no one should be working on your drilling rig systems without undergoing safety training first.

Enforce the wearing of protective gear

When setting up the rig substructure, personnel should be wearing protective equipment like eye and face protection for welding, long-sleeved clothing and more. Welding, in particular, can be very dangerous work. Ensure that your workers never look directly into a welding flame.

Invest in fall protection

Another potential hazard is slips, trips and falls, especially when workers are working on an elevated surface. Require all personnel to wear fall protection while working from heights and to keep debris off the ground to prevent tripping and falling.

Do you agree with these tips? Have any other questions about maintaining an environment of safety for personnel working around your drilling rig systems? Let us know by leaving a comment below.