Good Housekeeping

“Good Housekeeping” is one of the best safety measures that can be undertaken.  However, it is something that must be practiced day-by-day and not erratically or only once a year.  Quite often a crew will get ambitious and make sure everything is washed down, swept up, put away, hung up or otherwise disposed of. Then everyone sits back and waits until conditions get so bad that it all has to be repeated.  What if your house was only cleaned up once a month or once a year? You might not like living there.

Good rig housekeeping will help with all the following:

  1. Reduce drilling costs.
  2. Increase hole drilled.
  3. Improve control of drilling.
  4. Conserve materials and parts.
  5. Decrease rig down time.
  6. Use space more efficiently.
  7. Open access routes and enable better movement.
  8. Lower incident rates on the rig.
  9. Build higher crew morale.
  10. Reduce rig fire hazards

The only way to properly handle housekeeping is for every crew member to do those little jobs as they come up and not leave things lying around.  It is much easier to fix hazardous conditions when they first appear than it is to explain an accident that may result from them.

Some important housekeeping chores to remember are shown below:

  1. Put a tool back in the rack when you are finished using it.
  2. Sweep up or wash off any dirt or mud as soon as you can.
  3. Repair those loose steps, rickety handrails (check the base sockets and welds) and loose walkways.
  4. Keep cables, slings, chains, rope (catline), etc. coiled up and off the floor when not in use.
  5. Do not allow oil to collect on the rig floor or in the cellar.
  6. Do not block fire extinguishers.
  7. Do not block emergency exit routes.
  8. Keep the BOPs and cellar washed down and keep cellars jetted down.
  9. Keep all trash and miscellaneous parts from under sub-structure.
  10. Keep all excess pipe, connections etc., in a rack, not under or spread around the rig.
  11. Keep the water hose clean and coiled up, when not in use.
  12. Keep the water hose such that it cannot reach the kelly (kelly bushings).
  13. See that all fire extinguishing equipment is in the clear and ready for use.
  14. See that first aid kits and supplies are clean, filled and ready for use.
  15. Check all safety equipment (hard hats, shoes, goggles, gloves, gas masks, etc.) and ensure that they are clean and in good repair.

Remember that “Good Housekeeping” means: Keeping house at all times.

For safety EVERYWHERE, make it a FAMILY AFFAIR.