To subscribe, advertise or contribute articles to smartmanufacturingtoday.com contact publisher@xtra.co.nz

  • Home
  • Newswire
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • About
Smart Manufacturing Today
Your source of info
  • Developments
  • Manufacturing Technology
  • Latest News
  • Featured
  • Computer Integrated Manufacturing
  • Robotics
  • Manufacturing Software
  • Internet of Things
  • Additive Manufacturing
  • Product Design
  • 3D Printing
  • Supply Chain
  • Workshop Tools
  • PLM & CAD/CAM
  • Covid-19
  • Events
  • Motors & Drives
  • The Circular Economy

News Ticker

Embracing equity for women in STEM
Operational technology security in smart manufacturing
Decarbonise while you Digitalise
Is low-code the future of manufacturing?
Network Monitoring – The competitive differentiator in manufacturing
Delivering supply chain resiliency across the fabricated metals industry with ERP
Detecting faults: A stitch in time for manufacturing?
The missing link in Industry 4.0’s connectivity chain

Smart technologies can improve safety in the oil and gas industry

smart-technologies-picBy Gaurav Sharma, Head of Industries Business, ANZ, Cognizant

Employee safety remains a key concern within the oil and gas sector. The nature of tasks and activities makes it a riskier industry than others. Workers’ fatigue is another factor increasing that risk.

However, the oil and gas industry is in a prime position to take advantage of technologies such as robotics, wearables, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) to minimise some of the risks, as well as drive innovation.

 The risks of fatigue

Fatigue is a major contributor to safety incidents in the oil and gas industry. An oil and gas worker’s job includes inherently risky routine and physically demanding tasks such as positioning heavy equipment, climbing on scaffolds, and physical inspections and maintenance.

Characteristics specific to the oil and gas industry are also factors increasing that risk, such as fly-in fly-out and shift work conditions, dealing with time zone changes and 24/7 operations, handling hazardous chemicals or working in extreme weather conditions.

Research indicates that the injury rate of Australian shift workers is two times higher than other workers, due to fatigue-related factors such as insufficient sleep, disrupted sleep patterns, and extended working hours.

 Using digital technologies to predict fatigue risk

There is an increasing awareness across risky industries that digital technologies have an important role to play in improving work safety. Leading oil and gas providers are now looking to improve their current standards even further through data collection, monitoring, and automation.

However, there is still a long way to go to full adoption, as estimates suggest that just one percent of the data currently captured by operators is being used for improvement purposes.

These technologies can provide companies with better control on workplace hazards and better training, while improving onsite communications and overall workforce and business asset protection.

For instance, wearables measuring workers’ vitals with their informed consent can provide insights into their level of fatigue and avoid letting an exhausted asset manage risky processes. This understanding can also be used to improve existing control mechanisms and establish new proactive controls that further enhance worker health and safety.

There are many use cases where technologies can help improve working conditions and mitigate risk. Drones can help remotely monitor a situation and/or access dangerous places before involving humans in the process, like in the Notre-Dame incident. By enabling data-based insights into the most common causes of specific types of incidents, AI can help determine whether systemic conditions cause certain accidents.

Machine learning can help identify patterns or equipment failures, allowing a proactive, rather than a reactive, approach to anomalies. The use of augmented reality in field training can allow workers to get familiar with new equipment or environments without taking any risks.

However, before implementing any technology, organisations should embrace proactive risk management by developing a framework based on three key milestones: identification, analysis and recommendation.

The first step is to identify and categorise different types of incidents happening onsite and establish their impacts on costs and productivity. To do this effectively, organisations should develop an incident classification matrix tailored to their work environments.

The next step is to analyse the issues to determine root causes and potential gaps causing them. The specific risks will vary within the industry, so a tailored matrix is paramount. Finally, based on the analysis, the organisation should come up with actionable recommendations to contain the threats.

Managing workers’ fatigue within the oil and gas industry is not a simple process, but with the right approach, methods and tools, it can be more effectively controlled and monitored to help prevent incidents and risks.

 

 

Share this:

Related Posts

Helen Blomqvist

Developments /

Embracing equity for women in STEM

Digital twin PIC

Featured /

Digital Twins a catalyst to fulfilling sustainability agenda

Alex Mosher

Latest News /

Operational technology security in smart manufacturing

‹ Sealing skills focussed on medical problem solving› Collaboration results in interleaving veils for composite toughening
3D Printing

Recent Posts

  • Embracing equity for women in STEM
  • Operational technology security in smart manufacturing
  • Decarbonise while you Digitalise
  • Is low-code the future of manufacturing?
  • Network Monitoring – The competitive differentiator in manufacturing

Categories

  • 3D Printing
  • Additive Manufacturing
  • Computer Integrated Manufacturing
  • Covid-19
  • Developments
  • Events
  • Featured
  • Internet of Things
  • Latest News
  • Manufacturing Software
  • Manufacturing Technology
  • Motors & Drives
  • PLM & CAD/CAM
  • Product Design
  • Robotics
  • Supply Chain
  • The Circular Economy
  • Workshop Tools

Back to Top

  • Developments
  • Manufacturing Technology
  • Latest News
  • Featured
  • Computer Integrated Manufacturing
  • Robotics
  • Manufacturing Software
  • Internet of Things
  • Additive Manufacturing
  • Product Design
  • 3D Printing
  • Supply Chain
  • Workshop Tools
  • PLM & CAD/CAM
  • Covid-19
  • Events
  • Motors & Drives
  • The Circular Economy

To subscribe, advertise or contribute articles to smartmanufacturingtoday.com contact publisher@xtra.co.nz

(c) Smart Manufacturing Today, 2023