A FIELD ALERT - Drilling in Extremely Hot Weather

Health & Safety - Mining, Environmental, & Cybersecurity

Date posted: 07/05/16

Gary Hix reports that maximum daily temperature records are being broken throughout the southwestern U.S. The thermometer can reach 100 degrees F before 8 a.m. and still be above 100 well after 8 p.m. Daytime temperatures of 123 degrees F have been recorded in the SW U.S. and it is only the beginning of July. Temperatures this high are considered extreme and they can be extremely dangerous. As well drillers and pump installers we have learned how to work in temperatures in excess of 120 degrees, and the associated penetrating solar radiation. Both must be taken seriously. Most of the articles I have seen on the hazards of heat stress fail to provide realistic solutions while drilling wells. Take for instance the recommendation to set up a shade to work under. It is difficult set a shade over your drill rig or pump hoist if you are drilling or pulling pipe 20-plus feet into the air. Pop-up shades do not work well in the desert. We have tried setting up shades several times over non-working areas, only to have dust devils take them into the next county. What we really need is low-angle shade on our bodies during the hottest part of the day, and that is from 4 p.m. to sundown. But building shading walls can cut off what might be a cooling breeze and concentrate and radiate heat and glare right back at you. Setting up the drill rig to have the mast shade the operator controls late in the afternoon is one way of making the most of a tough situation. A few drillers will set up an umbrella shade over their platform or chair, but this leaves the rest of the crew to seek shade elsewhere. Shade for sample examination by geologists is also required. Another common recommendation is having workers take 10-minute breaks every hour to water up. We find that difficult to do while drilling wells or pulling or setting pumps. Instead, we break without disrupting the flow of the task. While we work on, we watch each other carefully for the first signs of heat stress.