BackDROPS Forum – Aberdeen, 4th December 2013
Greg Reid opened the Forum, provided a Safety Brief and round-the-room introductions were made.
DROPS Update – Greg Reid, DROPS
Membership:
Delighted to welcome the following new DROPS members:
Inquest Inc, USA
AStar Testing, Singapore
Roblon A/S industry, Norway
Radiant Neon & Design Pte Ltd, Singapore
Rope Access Inspection Pty Ltd, South Africa
SMP, France
Swire Oilfield Services, UK
TRAC Oil & Gas Ltd, UK
SafetyGrip Solutions Ltd, UK
Access All Areas Ltd, UK
Thunder Cranes Sdn Bhd, Labuan, Malaysia
Tubestar Oil & Gas Services Pvt Ltd, India
Disappointed that we are losing the following DROPS members:
AAK A/S
Encana Oil & Gas
IMES Ltd
PSA Corporation Ltd
IRM Services (Brazil)
DROPS International:
DROPS North America is discussing two potential events for 2014. Details to follow in due course.
DROPS Asia hosted a Forum last week in Brunei kindly sponsored by Shell. Minutes will be posted to web as soon as available. Details of future DROPS Asia events also on www.dropsasia.com
Proposals are presently being considered for a Middle East DROPS Forum during Q2 of 2014.
Discussions are underway for a possible DROPS Forum in South Africa in 2014
Keep an eye on the “Events” section at www.dropsonline.org for latest details of all upcoming events.
DROPS Training:
Since last forum, several DROPS Train-the-Trainer sessions were delivered at Silverdot’s Banchory offices and sessions will continue to be hosted regularly in UK – seewww.dropsonline.org for details.
Training has also been held in UAE, Qatar and Brazil.
Further DROPS training is planned for Sakhalin, Brazil, Holland and South East Asia.
2014 European DROPS Forums:
The 2014 UK DROPS Forums will all be held in Aberdeen at the Marcliffe Hotel on: Wednesday 26th February, Tuesday 29th April, Thursday 4th September and Thursday 27th November
A Norwegian Forum will be held in June (details to be advised)
A Forum will be held in Denmark or Netherlands in September (details to follow)
Today’s Presenters:
Many thanks to our Presenters: a shared incident from DOF Subsea’s John Cameron, Donald Dobson’s HSE update; and a Product demo from Claudio Graf of Dropsafe; Steve Struthers of Gulf Offshore provide a marine update, Calumn Seath of North Atlantic Drilling will share an Alert, our Focus Group leads will give us an update and Allen will discuss the Reliable Securing booklet re-issue.
Safety Alerts and Lessons Learned:
A number of Alerts and Lessons Learned will be presented today. Most of these presentations will be made available to download from the website along with brief minutes of today’s proceedings.
Please continue to share alerts and lessons learned with us – send details toadmin@dropsonline.org
Similarly, if you would like to discuss a presentation slot or recommend an appropriate presentation / speaker, please contact admin@dropsonline.org
Several IADC Alerts raised since last Forum which were overviewed briefly and which are available to download IADC Halfmoon IADC Roughneck
DROPS Backroom:
Thanks to our original Rogue’s Gallery sponsors. Through 2014, we are refreshing and adding to the displays and we seek new sponsors. If you are interested, please contact us.
A member has asked if fellow members have any exposure to or experience of the “Webdeck” system. Greg presented several slides showing the system and a show of hands agreed that the manufacturer should be invited to demonstrate the product at a future Forum.
A member has highlighted a short awareness video which was duly presented. The video can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-lTDhgHG7w We are establishing contact with the owners (Bechtel) requesting permission to issue copies of the video with our campaign pack updates.
Our Campaign Pack updates will be issued before next Forum. These updates will include the new Reliable Securing booklet, BP’s DROPS Safety Communications Pack (sanitised) and all of the presentations, guidance and communications we have shared and amassed through 2013.
We always wish to hear of and share details of new products, practices, systems, tools and techniques that can help in our fight against dropped objects – contactadmin@dropsonline.org with details
Incident Presentation – John Cameron, DOF
John presented an incident that resulted in a dropped object injury onboard an anchor handling vessel. An able seaman suffered an injury after a trolley and chain weighing 33kg rolled off the end of an I-beam and dropped 1.2m striking a glancing blow to his hard hat. He was airlifted to hospital and he was diagnosed with a bone fracture and had to wear a neck brace for 3 months. The initial investigation discovered that there was no trolley stopper at the end of the I-beam, and this had been spotted the day before but no action was taken. Weaknesses in the planning and performance included lack of proper risk assessment; incomplete lifting appliance; lack of experience; failure to stop the job. Implementation of regular dropped object inspections has now been rolled out across the global fleet. The presentation is available to download.
HSE Update – Donald Dobson, HSE
Donald presented his latest offshore UK oil and gas based statistics. An analysis of incidents from 2008 onwards show a level trend across the years despite lots of positive work has been done to prevent dropped objects. Latest statistics however show a better picture for 2012 and 2013; Q4 in particular for 2013 is looking very positive so far. Donald provided various breakdowns and analyses of the statistics and highlighted a number of specific incidents including a finger detaching from the fingerboard and an inclinometer weighing 12.4kg falling from a crane boom 9.3m to the pipe deck. Donald’s full presentation is available to download.
Dropped Object Prevention Devices – Claudio Graf, Dropsafe
Claudio introduced Dropsafe, a product that has been created as a secondary retention device that encloses and tethers overhead fixtures ie floodlights, speakers, CCTV cameras etc. Some examples of hazards were described and shown, including a light fixture that could have fallen but was prevented from doing so because of the Dropsafe net. Another was a 25kg lamp on a crane boom and also a light assembly that were both prevented from falling as they were shown actually hanging inside the safety net. The nets can be custom made and are fully traceable and independently tested. They are also temperature tested and the securing cable has a 750kg breakable strain. The product is designed to be used in any area on a rig where overhead fixtures are located. For further details, please contact directly either sales@dropsafe.com, or info@dropsafe.com You can also find information at www.dropsafe.com The presentation is availlable todownload.
Marine Update – Steve Struthers, Gulf Offshore
Steve presented an update from the marine sector. The new Marine Guidelines (GOMO) has a section now incorporating dropped objects and Steve briefed the members on what this contains. His statistical analysis of the number of dropped object items affecting them to date in 2013 is currently standing at 41 incidents and projected to reach 48 by the year end. A breakdown of these incidents included where and how they occurred. Numerous examples of the different types of dropped objects that have been recovered were shown and discussed. The members were also shown pictures of a recent overboard discharge incidents and how this can affect vessels below and the vision of personnel onboard. The presentation is available to download.
Safety Alert – Calumn Seath, North Atlantic Drilling
Calumn shared a safety alert with the group about a very recent incident where a mud hose came off the yoke and landed on both the red and green zones of the drill floor. Three out of four of the roller sections for the hose guide also fell separately onto the main deck 50.3 metres below. Two of the roller sections weighed 21.7kg and one was 25.3kg. Interim findings show that the hose had been recently changed in a yard stay; the roller guide was misaligned with the yoke sheave and the bolts holding together the four sections of the roller guide were normal bolts with normal nuts – no lock nuts or safety bolts. Interim recommendations include inspection of all yoke rollers on main and aux rigs; changing out the existing nuts for lock nuts; fit secondary retention. The Safety Alert has been separately sent to all members and is available to download. Calumn will present full details of the incident and all outcomes after the ongoing investigation has concluded.
2013 Focus Group Updates – Focus Group Leaders
Greg introduced the focus groups and invited the leaders to give an update on what they have achieved to date:
Asset Integrity – Mark Wilson of CNR provided the update. Several Focus Group meetings have taken place including a review of efforts CNR had undertaken on the topic. The Focus Group have agreed on their planned set of deliverables which will include Risk Assessment/Methodology, Guidance on use or adaption of inspection routine, Survey procedures/philosophies for different levels of Asset Integrity dropped object inspections. These deliverables will be worked on through 2014.
DROPS Competency – Alistair Tong of ADC provided the update with a summary of the key focus areas of the group. He shared the Group’s vision for their planned deliverables highlighting that their goal is to define the minimum requirement for standard elements in any dropped object training course. The group will also address / define elements and guidance required to demonstrate competency when conducting area specific DROPS inspections. Alistair’s Update is available to download.
Reliable Securing – Allen Smith provided an overview of the major areas of change in the latest update where there is a real focus on back-to-basics, including hazard identification; controls/barriers; bolted connections, tools at height and securing devices; material selection and application, highlighting importance of OEM recommendations. A post-production version of the Revision 3 was issued to members in November. Some valuable feedback was received and this has been incorporated into the final update which will go to print later this month. All members and campaign pack holders will receive a booklet and a downloadable version will be available on the website in January. Additional copies, including advance orders can be arranged by contactingadmin@dropsonline.org. We also welcome the support of any member organisation that could assist with translated versions of latest document.
Ope n 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.
Next (European) meeting
Date: Tuesday 26 February 2014
Venue: Marcliffe Hotel, Aberdeen
Host: DROPS Global Steering Committee Members