A new breed of service companies seeks to combine efficiency and environment. The word “green” can mean different things to different people these days. To the accounting department it means money. To the public, including investors, it can mean environmentally friendly. Often those two meanings are at odds. At least two service companies with a […]
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Greetings and salutations! Another great day in the wide world of safety, said no one ever, LOL. Not many people even like the subject of safety, but it is extremely popular among safety people. It’s kind of like when engineers get together and tell engineer jokes, when no one understands the jokes except for engineers. […]
Safety is First!
Greetings and salutations from the safety world! I hope the holidays were safe, memorable, and happy! Word has it that the oilfield is slowing down a bit. Hopefully, the slowdown is just a small correction. I’ve noticed over the years, the oilfield has changed in the sense that the calendar 4th quarter tends to slow […]
Holiday Safety
Season’s Greetings and salutations my friends! I hope this month’s message finds you safe and prosperous. Instead of the usual oilfield safety conversation, this month will be on holiday safety, which pertains to all of us, especially our family and friends. As you know, the holiday season is not necessarily a happy occasion for us […]
Railroad Commission, EPA combine to redevelop abandoned sites
Brownfields grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offered through the Railroad Commission of Texas are helping redevelop abandoned oil and gas sites. The Midland Reporter Telegram said recently the commission’s Brownfields Response Program includes a previously abandoned oilfield site near Andrews that now is a bird-viewing park with a path and lagoon. Leslie Bruce, […]
Accident Investigation
Greetings and salutations! Welcome to another fun edition in the land of safety. As I mentioned in the previous edition, this month I’m going to talk about Root Cause. Root cause analysis and its process is always one of the most fun topics in the oilfield, said no one ever. The first and most important […]
Shrinking the Footprint
The business of environmental services keeps evolving into something more akin to a real business function, and less like an onerous duty. The trend is driven partly by conscience and partly by receptivity to change. The days in which “environmental” was a dirty word in the oil patch are long gone, say the experts. More […]
The Cafeteria Plan
Welcome back! I thank you for the feedback and responses to the safety section of Permian Basin Oil and Gas Magazine. It is fun to write about some experiences, solutions, and different angles on how to make safety relevant, innovative, and even (sometimes) thought provoking. As I’ve said before, there are numerous different angles to […]
Road Safety
Welcome! I hope this August finds you happy and safe! Today I am going to broach the subject of the most dangerous and deadly part of our industry… Driving. I fully understand that the 40 hours of documented training that we received at the mature age of 16 to 18 years of age fully qualifies […]
Telling Isn’t Training!
Welcome back to this month’s installment about everyone’s favorite topic of safety! I recently was reading a post that intrigued me on a social media. A person who was new to safety wanted to know what was the most prevalent cause of accidents in the oilfield and why. The question was broad and yet evoked […]
