Our Process to Eliminate Dropped Objects

Kenny Adams KCA Deutag

KCA manage DROPS though a variety of tasks including audits, hazard hunts, rig visits, DROPS wardens, media lessons; and client partnerships.  

A big area of focus is Supervisors ‘supervising’. This focus is to encourage the supervisors to not do the job themselves but to supervise an individual carrying out the task so the lessons are shared.  Picture books are also a great way to share learnings and develop a best practice with crews. CCTV is also used which has had some success as a verification of areas. A Dropped Objects Inspection Book is also used to enable the identification of a potential dropped object and the findings verified. The KCA DROPS Wardens control zones and take it in turn to engage with the crews. These Wardens are selected daily to rotate the position amongst the crew. Red Zones are effective and have eliminated a number of injuries that could have potentially happened. Dropped objects are still happening and the human factor element is a large risk but the more awareness there is, the better a chance of stopping these types of incidents.

The engagement process is helped by carrying out any toolbox talks etc in the local language and explained in a way that the crews understand rather than a high level procedure. The junior crews are encouraged to take ownership in toolbox talks and not rely on more experienced workforce to deliver the message.