March Articles

Downtime and WOW

The old adage "If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it will change" is especially relevant to offshore. Weather systems move through quickly, especially in the spring. The day can start off with the most beautiful sunrise of gold and amber and by 07:30 it’s all gone and the fog has decended. By lunchtime two quick showers have given way to brilliant sunshine. In the evening snow falls lightly on the deck as temperatures plummet. Four seasons in one day. The sea state changes nearly as quickly. As the wind speeds increase, the sea rises and the supply boat turns back. Then it arrives again and the skipper won’t come anywhere near the rig. This inevitably leads to waiting on weather (or WOW) which gradually loops round to hurry. The equipment needed to do the next job waits on the boat, the boat waits on the weather and the weather just keeps happening. The result of all this weather is that when things do start to get moving again everything is done at pace. Shortcuts are taken, not ever deliberately compromising safety directly but there is an indirect safety cost. If things are not found to be faulty now, when they are found to be faulty later there is an effort which has to be made to remedy the situation. This all involves extra unplanned work pushing the job along the time curve again. The longer the time spent doing one task, the longer the time spent exposed to danger. By doing a job right first time and taking a little bit more time over it then you are exposing people to a risk for a shorter "net" time and decreasing the risk of them being injured. This culture of doing things correctly is not one which is seen often in the offshore environment. That is not because companies are putting pressure on people to do things quickly. People put pressure on people to do things quickly. Peer pressure, self imposed performance criteria and a belief that if you are quick then you are good. These attitudes are born in childhood as we compete to be the best, developed as teenagers as we compete to get the girl(or guy) and continue in adulthood as we strive to provide the best we can for ourselves and our family.

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Offshore Convenience
There are many different types of places for you to "go" offshore. The toilets are not always the high piont of any rig. Most systems have been designed for boats. Most offshore rigs are just glorified ships. So as in any ship there are a few different ways to dispose and store waste for later collection by the supply boat. The main cubicles are in the boot room or changing room and were designed with the average American in mind. Privacy is not always guaranteed; probably back to the days when the Tool Pusher (drill crew chief) could see how many of is crews were spending too much time sitting around. The cubicles can have all sorts of instructions on the wall from the Station Bill for the rig, mentioning all the alarms and actions in case of emergency(ironic), to notices reminding you to leave the bowl the way you found it(please use the brush provided), to a small notice reminding you to wash your hands to prevent infection. Occasionally a notice saying Please do not put cigarette ends, matches or any other items in this toilet other than toilet paper. There may also be some notices posted by the rig crew themselves mainly directed at the Pusher. Most Semi Submersibles and Jack-ups use a vacuum, system. In some systems notices are posted to remind you to close the lid before flushing. Some are so powerful care is needed so you don't get you shoes washed at the same time as you flush. Remembering these rigs are occasionally forty years old the engineering used for these contraptions is often a little outdated and any repairs are a little on the fly. Press the button and you may be in for a bit of a surprise as the pipe work all tries to jump off the wall at you. Platform toilets are just like your average everyday toilet in a restaurant. Well a filling station anyway. Paper will always, without exception, be the cheapest and hardest money can buy. Don't expect Andrex here. This is probably to give you somewhere to write the next set of work instructions or the shift handover notes. You will never run out of paper though as there is nowhere on board to store it so it ends up stacked in the cubicle. While "having a rest" you may be greeted by a fellow rigger coming in next door muttering "I'm gonna feckin' clear this place." shortly followed by a small chirp of "Medic" somewhere in the background.