Maintenance Activities
Proper maintenance is essential to prevent premature equipment failure, which can lead to serious injuries, fatalities, environmental incidents, or costly downtime. Drilling equipment is continuously subjected to high loads, vibration, heat, pressure, and corrosive substances during operations. As a result, maintenance is a necessary and ongoing activity on every drilling site.
Maintenance work may be performed while the rig is operating or during shutdowns, and often involves mechanical, electrical, and hot work activities. Because maintenance tasks frequently expose workers to energized systems, moving parts, and hazardous energy, they must be carefully planned and performed using established safety procedures.
Maintenance activities on a drilling site cover a wide range of systems and equipment. These tasks are essential to ensure safe operation, maintain equipment reliability, and extend service life. Maintenance may be routine, preventative, corrective, or emergency in nature.
Common maintenance activities include, but are not limited to, maintaining the following:
- Rig floor: Repairing worn surfaces, securing grating, maintaining guardrails, and addressing housekeeping and slip hazards.
- Drilling line maintenance: Inspecting, lubricating, cutting, and slipping drilling lines to prevent failure.
- Wire rope maintenance: Inspecting for broken wires, corrosion, kinks, and proper spooling.
- Mud circulating system: Servicing pumps, valves, lines, and tanks to prevent leaks and pressure failures.
- Generators, electric motors, and electrical systems: Performing inspections, repairs, and testing while controlling hazardous energy.
- Engines: Maintaining fuel, lubrication, cooling, and exhaust systems to ensure safe operation.
- Derrick equipment: Inspecting ladders, monkeyboards, escape devices, sheaves, and structural components.
Each of these maintenance activities presents unique hazards that must be identified and controlled through proper training, lockout/tagout procedures, permits, personal protective equipment, and job safety analyses.
Now, let’s take a closer look at these specific maintenance activities and the hazards associated with each on the drilling site.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
8-1. Why is regular maintenance important on a drilling site?
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