DROPS Forum BP Trends in North Sea Drilling

Sean Young Wells HSE Advisor

Marcliffe Hotel April 2011

Dropped Object Trend

Data from Platform Drilling, Mobile Drilling, Well Intervention, Onshore Drilling
operations

YTD
Only

Decreasing trend of total dropped objects

Persistent underlying high potential incident numbers

Incident Timing Issue ?

No clear trend
2007, 2009, 2010 show peak within summer period
No correlation with winter weather but sea fastening an ongoing

Dropped Object Location

2010 15
Med High Potential (0)
Low Potential (15)

YTD 2011 09
Med High Potential (2)

2009 30

Low Potential (7)

Med High Potential (5)

Low Potential (25) 6 x Intervention vessel
not shown

YTD - Higher DO rate than

2009 !!

Service Companies
Accommodation

Drilling Modules

Stores/Workshops

Moonpool

Machinery Spaces

High Potential Dropped Objects

YTD 2011 09

* Securing for
weather

Med High Potential (2)

2010 15

* Maintenance

Med High Potential (0)

2009 30
Med High Potential (5)

Wind blown plastic

portable scaffold off
rig floor fall 4.5M
2.9kg broken
wooden crane
guide fell 10.5m
2.7kg proving
pin during
cutting
operation

150kg
lifting
equipment
fell 5.5m
35kg hanger
protection fell
6m

0.75 Kg
Racking pin
and plate fell
26m

Service Companies
Accommodation

Drilling Modules

Stores/Workshops

Moonpool

Wind blown
scaffold fell
2.5m
Machinery Spaces

Devil in the detail

2011 High Potential Example
Scaffold Equipment stored next to BOP deck
handrail
Worker pulls scaffold board free from under
scaffold tubes
Scaffold tube rolls on top of other tubes towards

handrail post
Tube collides with handrail post, turns and the end
slides through hand rail / kick plate gap
Scaffold Tube weighing 16Kgs fell 12m to deck
below
Nobody was injured but high potential :

Q: would you walk past this storage arrangement ?

Summary
Although statistics show an improving trend complacency is
dangerous as high potential incidents are persistent
need to keep the issue live with offshore personnel
DO Hazard Hunts are good at eliminating loose items but poor
maintenance + incorrect use of equipment are frequent causes of
DOs
Basic issues still have the potential to hurt us
e.g. use of correct sea fastening
Poor hazard recognition is a common theme across safety
incidents
Encourage Fresh eyes to challenge assumptions