As a Drilling Company Owner, This Is Frightening.
It All Begins Here
As a drilling company owner this is frightening.
Public reports indicate that a drilling rig carrying out soil borings for a geotechnical investigation in Dallas Tx. Early reports state that authorities had been notified in advance and utility marks were visible, yet the line was still hit. Three people were killed - including a young child - and five others injured.
In over 20 years of environmental and geotechnical drilling, I’ve either personally drilled through or managed rigs that have damaged fuel lines, sewers, high-voltage electrical cables, basement car parks, underground tunnels and phone lines. Every single one of those locations had been deemed “safe” by a utility mapping company. To my knowledge, some form of non-destructive clearance (at various depths) had been completed beforehand. Without doubt as the technology has progressed over time the frequency of hits is defiantly declining.
I’m the first person to challenge generic, tick-the-box safety processes that don’t properly account for site-specific conditions. When processes become routine or overly standardised, they can unintentionally desensitise teams to elevated risk.
We will be using the incident as a case study in our next team safety meeting - to reinforce the importance of critical thinking, thorough site-specific hazard identification, and never becoming complacent just because “the locates are done.”
Matt Hansen
General Manager
Legion Drilling - Environmental, Geotechnical and Sonic Drilling
