HEALTH & SAFETY SECTION TITLE
THE
ropped object (DO) incidents present a major safety risk within both on- and off shore oil & gas environments. A DO incident is a situation in which damage to equipment, serious injury to personnel, or even fatality, is caused by a loose item falling from height. In addition to the risk of material damage to equipment or injury to engineers and technicians working on site, DOs also present further serious threats in this context. T ese include a potential negative fi nancial impact as a result of the need to repair or replace damaged equipment, and a severe threat to corporate reputation, coupled with potential legal consequences. T e overall risk posed by DOs is
elevated by the nature of the conditions in 44
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AT HEIGHT D
HAZARD Rob Schlipper on choosing a cost-eff ective barrier to dropped object risk
which technicians in the oil & gas industry work. Harsh off shore environments on drilling ships, for example, increase the likelihood of a DO incident occurring, due to the heightened risk of weather-induced corrosion of installations and equipment. Engineers working in remote oil & gas settings are at risk of DO incidents triggered, for instance, by the operation of heavy machinery on site: fi ttings can become loose and then fall from height as a result of vibrations from intensive drilling.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR COMBATTING THIS THREAT? A variety of DO risk mitigation products are available commercially to counter these threats, ranging from netting and tethers to barrier systems such as those provided
by Dropsafe. Indeed, barrier systems play a vital role in mitigating DO hazards in the on- and off shore sector. Fitted to the railings of permanent or temporary installations, barriers prevent loose objects from falling down stairwells or from elevated walkways. In oil & gas operations, walkways and stairways are particularly high-risk areas for DO incidents because of both the typically large gaps between railings and the likelihood of technicians working directly below on lower fl oors of the structure. Barrier systems for this type of context
are available in diff erent forms, not all of which are of suffi cient quality and durability to provide a long-term and cost-eff ective solution to DO risk. T e performance and suitability of DO barrier systems can be assessed in
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