Influence of Operational Factors on Geothermal Rig Accident Types and Recommended Controls

Geothermal drilling operations expose personnel involved to a variety of hazards that can lead to different types of accidents which include and are not limited to struck by/against, caught on/between, slip/trip/fall, sprains/strain, contact with hazardous chemicals and, cuts. These accidents are known to cause fatal accidents and disabling injuries that can limit productivity of drilling operations. There is need to identify control measures that can effectively minimize risks of fatal and serious injury which seem to have stable rates in the drilling industry. Based on the fact that multiple factors contribute to an accident, this research set out to determine the influence of four geothermal rig operational factors on types of accident encountered, immediate causes of injury, root causes and effective corrective actions necessary to minimize occurrence and recurrence of common accidents. The operational factors considered were personnel function, assignment location, drilling operation and body part involved. All injury accidents encountered in Menengai Geothermal Project site from 2010 to end of 2017 were used to determine the relationship between each operational risk factor and different types of accidents using chi-squared statistical test for independence. It was determined that task assignment location and the body part mainly involved in executing an assignment are related to accident types while roles of deployed personnel and the operation at hand have no relationship with the same. Different locations on the rig site therefore require specific controls to address hazards associated with differently characterized rig equipment and procedural controls that prescribe safe positioning and task execution methods are necessary to minimize risks of injury. No association between operation at hand and personnel role indicates that all rig operations present equal chance of encountering different kinds of injury and precautions taken should equally address all foreseeable hazards that can be expected to occur in different interacting operations. Moreover since all persons are at equal risk of encountering any type of accident there is need for consistent compliance to safety requirement by everyone on the rig site. Effective control measures to address root causes of injury center around ensuring that workers can foresee task related hazard and are provided with actionable instruments to take corrective action, workplace tools and equipment are of sound construction, safe work procedures to control hazardous forms of energy are implemented and work is supervised to discourage unsafe behavior or deviation from stipulated required practice.

Key words: Risk, Accident, Drilling, Rig, Geothermal