Dear Roughneck Magazine:
I read with great interest the article H2S Knockdowns included in the April 2017 issue of the Roughneck Magazine. As most of the readers of the Roughneck know, H2S is a hazard present in much of the day-to-day field work we do in our industry. It has, at times, taken its place as the number one hazard on many worksites and was a real challenge for those of us helping to develop safe work practices through the era of deep foothills drilling, completion, and production activities.
As the oil and gas industry has moved away from the complex work involved in these types of wells, we sometimes need to be reminded the hazard is still there in many of our worksites, and can result in serious and life threatening incidents, if best practices are not in place and utilized. I commend the Roughneck Magazine for putting the topic on the cover of the April magazine and bringing this important safety issue to its readers through the review of a recent H2S exposure incident.
While this article has reminded us of the potential serious outcomes of exposure to H2S, it has also created an opportunity to dig a bit deeper into this type of incident and expand on some of the comments made by the Roughneck writer. It is with this thought in mind that I would like to offer a few comments on the article.
The writer was provided with the Enform Safety Alert and referred to details written in this alert. In the article, it refers to “Enform’s subsequent investigation…” This would lead the reader to conclude that this investigation was the responsibility of and was conducted by Enform. This would not be the case as the contractor and operator would have conducted this investigation. Readers of the Roughneck Magazine should not be left with the mistaken understanding that Enform will conduct incident investigations.
On closer examination of the Enform Safety Alert, it was not clear why four of the workers were on a rig tank during flow back operations. Over the years, many incidents have occurred in similar circumstances where workers have been injured from exposure to flammable or toxic gas during flow back to open rig tanks. Time and time again, incident investigations have resulted in recommendations that workers not be permitted on the tank while flow back is underway. No amount of PPE such as SCBA, wet suits etc. will protect a worker from a sudden flash fire on these tanks. The service industry and various committees have worked long and hard to recommend use of degassers, P-Tanks or other flow back equipment to lower the risk level of this operation.
Servicing a well with HCL is always going to include the potential for exposure to a hazardous toxic product. This may be unreacted HCL, some combination of unreacted HCL and other well bore products or the creation of H2S through the chemical reaction of HCL and Iron Sulfide. The Enform Safety Alert referenced the investigation
recommendations concerning the previous use of the tubular work string. While this is helpful, it does not provide any room to relax the controls needed for potential exposure to the toxic hazards present in this type of operation.
The article states that “H2S can trigger spontaneous combustion, explosions and detonations if it encounters … ammonia or other chemical substances.” There may be some facts to substantiate this claim, but the overall tone of the statement will be alarming to most readers. It is a well-known fact that ammonia vapour is commonly utilized to neutralize H2S gas in many oil and gas operations.
In the final highlighted section of the article, first aid measures for H2S exposure are summarized. While this is no doubt a generalized approach, there are some areas of the stated first aid measures which could be improved upon. Through Enform, our industry has developed a world class H2S training program. One of the most important aspects of the training was the development and industry approval of the 7 Step Initial Response Strategy. Regardless of the work site situations, the response we are taught is: Evacuate, Alarm, Assess, Protect, Rescue, Revive, Medical Aid. This is one of the key learnings all students are left with upon conclusion of the course and is one thing they will take with them to their field work sites. In articles, such as this, we have a good opportunity to reinforce this Response Strategy and not confuse readers with some other terminology or process.
The article also includes first aid for casualties who are not breathing. It states: “ventilate them by machine, never inhale the breath of the injured person.” The myth of hazards related to breathing in H2S from an H2S causality has been debunked and our industry training now recognizes the importance of performing CPR as quickly as possible in a safe environment.
The Roughneck Magazine should be commended for raising awareness of one of the higher risk hazards in our industry. The April edition article shows us that H2S has been and continues to be present in many of our daily field tasks. As evidenced by the discussion of the H2S exposure on the rig tank, it is obvious we need to be more diligent concerning potential H2S releases. The comments offered about the article will hopefully lead to greater discussion about working with hydrogen sulfide and the hazard assessments we conduct each day on our work sites.
C. Larry Christensen, B. Comm, CRSP, is a safety professional who has worked in the oil and gas safety service industry for over 40 years. Most of his experience has been related to the provision of H2S related safety equipment and the development and implementation of best practices for the safe handling of H2S in drilling, well servicing and production operations. He is currently providing safety consulting services to the oil and gas industry.
#H2S #Knockdowns #Oil #oilandgas #Safety #HSE #Enform
