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Tech Perspectives
This blue steel doghouse is mounted on a drilling rig. The units are typically raised to the same elevation as the rig oor, but are cantilevered out from the rigs main support structure. (Photos courtesy of Rio Bravo)

All-weather ofce spaces and control centers deployed at remote drill rigs offer increasingly sophisticated capabilities and climate control to meet clients high expectations
By Peter Kenter

IN THE
OIL PRODUCERS ARE DEMANDING DOGHOUSES THAT ARE LARGER,
stronger and more comfortable for operators as drilling operations expand into ever-more-hostile climates. Since 2005, Rio Bravo Oileld Services has manufactured custombuilt products such as water tanks, mud tanks, mud systems, fuel tanks, doghouses, change houses, generator houses and wheeled tanks. The company manufactures the product line for land-based rigs across the U.S. and into Canada and Mexico. Typical clients are companies that manufacture and assemble drilling rigs, or the drilling companies themselves. The business was founded by Lloyd Payne, who had tallied 30 years of experience as a drilling manager for a Dallas-based oil company. His brother, Gordon, whose aptitude for engineering solutions followed a successful career as a guitar player and songwriter with such acts as The Crickets and Waylon Jennings, joined the company soon after. He subsequently assumed the role of company CEO. The rst order the company ever received and completed was a doghouse, says Gordon Payne. The construction of many of these carbon steel products is similar, so weve developed a successful niche in this type of product, and were always working on ways to improve the product line. The original doghouse in the 1930s, was a wooden structure with a small desk and cut-outs for windows.
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DOGHOUSE
THE TOP DOG HOUSE It was a very small lean-to, just a place to get a little shade out of the sun, says Payne. They might contain a chair and desk made out of a couple of old sawhorses with a board draped across them. In those days the roughnecks referred to the guy in the drillers ofce as the top dog, so the structure

We need to congure it so we know which side will be facing the rig oorthat helps us to position the furniture and knowledge box inside. Within those parameters, we build it as strong and as light as we can.
Gordon Payne

simply became known as the doghouse, says Payne. Theres an alternate origin for the term that suggests that the guys on the rig oor felt that the driller was doing no physical labor, so he was dogging it. By the 1950s, the size of the houses had expanded and become more elaborate, gradually rising from the rig oor to heights of 30 feet or more to accommodate the need for oversight of increasingly complex drilling equipment.
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Safety First

GET OUT ALIVE

The largest proposed trenching violation penalty underscores the importance of protective measures
By Scottie Dayton

and health. A citation for a serious violation is issued when death or grave physical harm could result from a hazard employers knew or should have known about. There is no excuse for accidents like this, says Charles Adkins, OSHA regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. Its imperative that employers take the necessary steps to eliminate hazards and provide safe working environments. Lack of cave-in protection remains Regardless of the depth of the trench, OSHA requires a competent the primary hazard of trenching and person to inspect conditions at the site daily, and as frequently as excavation. The necessary during the work to assess hazards. U.S. Department of Labor ranked it Keith Lamberson second in the top 10 construction violations cited for 2005. Sixteen percent of few years ago, and has accumulated 38 offenders were cited for the same violation workplace safety citations since 1982, within three years. according to OSHA. This is the largest proposed penalty DIRECT AND INDIRECT COSTS I have ever seen for trenching violations, Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of says George Kennedy, vice president of Labor Statistics, an average of 54 employsafety with the National Utility Contractors ees die in cave-ins annually, half of them Association. It is a clear indication that while working on sewer or water systems. OSHA isnt backing off its resolve to strinBetween 2003 and 2005, cave-ins injured gently enforce the regulations. 530 workers. WILLFUL VIOLATIONS Employers rarely think beyond the direct costs medical and workers comThe Wisconsin companys ne came pensation payouts associated with an six months after four workers from a accident, says Kennedy. But there are construction subcontractor died in a trench indirect costs, such as lost productivity collapse. Investigation of the excavation among co-workers and management, lawsite found three willful and two serious suits, and reduced worker morale, especially violations. OSHA proposed $201,600 in when fatalities occur. A study estimated that penalties. the ratio of indirect to direct costs for injuThe agency issues willful violations ries resulting in lost work time was 20 to 1. when employers exhibit indifference to or Once a cave-in occurs, there is a 98 intentional disregard for employee safety he Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a Wisconsin company for failing to protect workers from possible cave-ins in an 8-foot-deep trench and for piling spoils too close to its edge. The agency proposed $700,000 in nes. The excavating company received 15 workplace safety citations for life-threatening violations involving a trenching project a
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percent chance of a second collapse. This shows the importance of soil analysis to determine appropriate sloping, benching and shoring. If an excavation is less than 5 feet deep, OSHA does not require a protective system unless a competent person sees signs of a potential cave-in. For trenches 5 to 20 feet deep, shoring and sheeting, shielding, sloping, and benching are acceptable protective measures. Project planners and the competent person on site must determine which systems will work best. If an excavation is greater than 20 feet deep, a registered professional engineer must design the protective system. Regardless of the depth of the trench, OSHA requires a competent person to inspect conditions at the site daily, and as frequently as necessary during the work to assess hazards, says Keith Lamberson of Safety Corporation of America in Atlanta, Ga. Additional hazards to employees inside excavations include working with heavy machinery, manually handling materials, construction trafc, overhead and underground power lines, and buried utilities. KEYS TO PREVENTION OSHA isnt the only agency involved in educational efforts aimed at reducing trenching and excavation fatalities. The American Pipeline Contractors Association (www.americanpipeline.org) offers two fact sheets in alliance with OSHA. Excavation and Trenching Best Practices for Operators and Horizontal Directional Drilling Best Practices for Operators describe best safety practices when working with backhoes, sidebooms, bulldozers and trenching machines. The CD-ROM Trench Safety Awareness from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (www.cdc.gov/niosh) is part of a Web-based training exercise. It contains material on the four types of trench collapse, the frequency and cost of trench collapses, trench soil types, and common trench protective systems. NIOSH suggests that employers: Develop, implement and enforce a comprehensive safety program that includes training in hazard recognition and avoiding unsafe conditions. Dont leave the written
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