Guidance for carrying out rig checks

Companies recommending or appointing drilling contractors have a duty of care to ensure

Summary the competence and capability of those contractors.
All site staff have a responsibility to work safely and act to stop unsafe operations when
encountered.
Managers have a duty of care under PUWER to provide plant and equipment which is fit for
purpose and safe to use.
Supervisors and Operators should carry out suitable and sufficient checks to ensure that the
plant and equipment is safe to operate.
Checks should be planned based upon the amount and type of use and for most drilling rigs
working in harsh conditions should comprise both daily and weekly checks as well as a
minimum annual service.

Under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) it is the responsibility of
Introduction Employers to ensure that appropriate operational procedures, security measures and personal
health issues are assessed and in place to ensure plant and equipment is fit for purpose and safe
to use. Drilling rigs typically operate in harsh conditions, are often used on a daily basis and carry
out hard work and therefore a sensible approach to ensuring the plant is safe to use would
comprise:
Annual servicing
Planned preventative maintenance
Pre start checks
Completion of written checks and defects notes

The majority of checks should be carried out by the Lead Driller or a suitable person from the drilling
contractor who is familiar with the safe operation and use of the rig. In addition to the drilling
contractor checks, pre-start checks can also be carried out by the Supervisor or Site Engineer and
this document provides guidance for this type of rig check.

Prior to commencing the drilling or boring activity and assuming that all necessary checks for buried
services etc have been completed, a general site check often provides a good indication of the
General attitude to safety of the drilling contractor.

A simple visual check of the drilling operation should include:

Does the operation look safe?
Are the operators competent and qualified (NVQ)?
Are suitable welfare facilities on site?
Is the equipment near to the drilling operation and stored safely and tidily?
Is equipment such as rods and core barrels stored off the ground on trestles or in stillages
or racks?
Is appropriate fencing and signage in place, if necessary?
Are the drill crew wearing all appropriate PPE and/or RPE (check Risk Assessments if
unsure)?
Is there a First Aid Kit and in date Fire Extinguisher at the work site?

Once the Supervisor or Site Engineer is satisfied that the work site has been established to create a
Operational safe working environment, the rig operation can be assessed. As with the general checks a simple
approach can be taken to ensure that the rig is safe to use without detailed knowledge of the actual
Rig Safety rig. However, the Supervisor or Site Engineer should have sufficient competency to recognise
different drilling operations and equipment, knowledge of industry terminology and safe operations
of geotechnical sites.

The first check should again be a general visual inspection of the rig looking for damage, bends,
cracks, leaks and general appearance. When the rig starts it should not emit volumes of black, grey,
blue or any other colour smoke and should not sound like a bag of nails. Old rigs if looked after
and properly maintained will perform well and safely and dont need to look or sound like a wreck.
Poorly maintained rigs will often break down during site operations and cause delays to projects and
may even cause environmental incidents where spillage occurs.
Althougheveryefforthasbeenmadetochecktheaccuracyoftheinformationandvalidityoftheguidancegiveninthisdocument,

neitherthemembersoftheSafetyWorkingGroup,northeAGSacceptanyresponsibilityformisstatementscontainedhereinor 1
misunderstandingarisingherefrom.
AGS,March2014www.ags.org.uk 1


Guidance for carrying out rig checks

Prior to commencing site works it is recommended that rig and equipment certification is made
LOLER available for checking. The most important certificate for drilling rigs (including rotary, cable
percussive and dynamic sampling rigs) and equipment are the Certificates of Thorough Examination
Certification as required under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER).

Although the Supervisor or Site Engineer may not fully understand these regulations, checks can be
made to confirm:
that the certificate applies to the actual rig on site by checking the serial or plant number
is valid by checking the expiry date
covers all lifting equipment on site including ropes, shackles, hooks, slings, chains etc

Excessive wear (>10%) on lifting equipment or major kinks or snags in the wire rope will invalidate
any certification (see BDA Guidance for the safe operation of cable percussion rigs and equipment
for further details). See also AGS Guidance on Lifting Plant and Equipment.

Rig Guarding PUWER also requires that any dangerous rotating parts of machines are suitably guarded.

In the case of a cable percussion rigs, fixed guards must be fitted over the winch drum and around
any other moving parts such as the capstan, main winch shaft and starting shaft.

In the case of the majority of rotary rigs, the requirement to be able to access the drill string to add
and take off rods means that a fixed guard would not be suitable. Therefore, an interlocked guard is
acceptable providing that it meets some minimum requirements:
No more than 0.75m from ground level
No less than 1.80m in height
Must fail to safe
Must not allow any part of the body to come in contact with the rotating part
Not easily overridden

A simple test to check if a rotary rig guard is suitably interlocked it to ask the driller to open the cage
when the drill string is rotating. The drill string should stop ideally immediately or within half a turn.
Under no circumstances should rigs be operated with guards removed or not operating correctly.

Safety devices such as emergency stop buttons should be clearly marked, normally red in colour. A
Safety simple check is to again ask the driller to press the emergency stop whilst the rig is running.

Devices Trip wires are not deemed to be safety devices as they do not act in a preventative way. They
cannot substitute a suitable guard. However if fitted they should operate the same as an emergency
stop.

If compressed air is being used as a flush medium for rotary drilling ensure that all hose connections
have whip restraints in place prior to turning on the air.

Although not specifically safety devices, visual checks should be made on all stay bars, cross bars
and masts to ensure that they are present and secured in place with nuts and bolts or bolts and
pins.

Provision and use of work equipment regulations (PUWER), 1998, HSE

References Lifting operations and lifting equipment regulations (LOLER), 1998, HSE
Guidance for the safe operation of cable percussion rigs and equipment, 2005, BDA
and Further Guidance for the safe operation of dynamic sampling rigs and equipment, 2007, BDA
Guidance notes for the protection of persons from rotating parts and ejected material involved in the
Guidance drilling process, 2000, BDA
SIM 02/2011/04, The Prevention of Entanglement in the Rotating Parts of Drilling and Piling Rigs,
2011, HSE

Althougheveryefforthasbeenmadetochecktheaccuracyoftheinformationandvalidityoftheguidancegiveninthisdocument,

neitherthemembersoftheSafetyWorkingGroup,northeAGSacceptanyresponsibilityformisstatementscontainedhereinor 2
misunderstandingarisingherefrom.
AGS,March2014www.ags.org.uk 2