RED ZONE MONITORING

Improving Safety on the Drill Floor

Working on an offshore drilling facility is not without risk. Everyone is aware of this and considerable measures are taken to prevent accidents.

Despite all precautions, a drill floor remains a challenging working zone. Not least because work is often hindered by bad weather conditions.

Raising awareness

On the drill floor, people may be required to perform specific jobs, such as putting manual slips in place, in areas where heavy equipment can be moving around. These high-risk areas are called red zones. One approach to prevent these hazardous situations is to fully automate the process. However, for most existing rigs this is not a viable option, irrespective of whether it is even advisable. Another approach is to strengthen the discipline of the crew through stricter procedures, training, and signing. However, year after year, serious accidents show that this is not a 100% guarantee for success.

Red Zone Monitoring

Rolloos has developed an easy-to-use solution to increase a crew’s situational awareness. The Red Zone Monitoring video-analytics-driven platform informs crews when red zones are breached. For this innovative system, Rolloos first configures the desired operational procedures per situation. Then the various red zones are mapped in a Red Zone Matrix indicating the places which crew should avoid when certain machine operations are being performed. In addition, a number of cameras are installed that constantly monitor the whereabouts of people on the drill floor.

Using artificial intelligence and deep learning methods, these cameras know when someone is entering a red zone or even approaching one. The number and size of the red zones, and the number and positions of the cameras differ depending on the design of the drilling rig or vessel. This modular solution provides the flexibility which allows it to be tailored to the customer’s specific needs.

After implementation … how does it work?

Apart from the software and cameras, the system’s traffic lights are probably the most important part. These lights are visible to everyone working on the drill floor. When the lights are green, it is safe for the crew to walk and work in the red zone. When the lights are red, people know they must keep out of the red zone. If someone enters a red zone, a signal is given with the red light flashing and an alarm will sound. At that moment, the driller, who has a full view of the drill floor through the live user interface, can decide whether or not to stop the operation, depending on how the person entering the red zone responds to the alarm.

With the traffic lights, the crew always know the situation on the work floor, but in an interactive way, as they constantly have to be aware of what they are doing. This means they don’t have a false sense of security.

Why Red Zone Monitoring?

Red Zone Monitoring helps to improve safety and reduce downtime on the drill floor by raising people’s situational awareness.

Apart from the real-time improvement in safety, the system also collects an enormous amount of data that can be used for standardising procedures in a structured way for future operations. This not only helps when training new crews, but also provides essential insights into how drilling procedures can be enhanced,  resulting in higher efficiency and cost-reduction.

Last but not least, as Rolloos’ Red Zone Monitoring uses off-the-shelf equipment and intelligent design, it is easy to implement and keep up-to-date.

Visit our dedicated webpage for more information: www.rolloos.com/en/red-zone-monitoring/