I’m involved with a number of blogs and chat rooms on the Internet. Most of them are drilling related, everything from geotechnical to water wells, directional drilling and oilfield. Funny thing about that, every driller thinks their particular type of drilling is the best, hardest, coolest, etc., and looks down at all the other types of drilling. I have always figured that the goal of a driller is to make a usable hole for the customer. It makes no difference what is at the other end; we have to reach it.
One thing that every type of drilling has in common is danger. We operate powerful mechanical equipment in any geological condition, and any weather. We drill in places no one has ever seen before, and Mother Nature has a way of surprising us. Safety is, or should be, our first priority. I’ve seen a lot of guys that think they can just ram it through, safety be damned, and get paid sooner. This might work for a little while until unsafe practices catch up with them, Murphy raises his ugly head, and they pay in time, money and blood. Whatever time they saved by ignoring basic safety and best practices is lost. Safety starts at the top, from management, to supervisors, to everyone on the rig. The new guy can’t be expected to know, or care, about safety unless we teach him.