The COVID-19 outbreak and how it affects everyone’s health and safety is of huge concern for Boart Longyear. Being in an industry that already has many risks due the nature of drilling and manufacturing, employees have learned that fostering a safety culture means that no matter what they do, they always need to take time to make safety part of their daily activities*.

As everyone grapples with the changes and the unfortunate consequences we are seeing and are personally affected by, it is good to take a deep breathe and re-evaluate what you are doing to keep yourself and your loved ones safe and healthy.

The web is full of helpful information on what to look for, how to act, how to respond, and how to give assistance. In regard to the drilling industry, we recently came across this well written article published online by National Driller magazine.

In the article, author Brock Yordy asks, “How do we prepare for abnormal operating conditions?” and responds with, “We start by creating a procedure that minimizes the hazard and prepares our crews to be safe. Next, we implement that procedure by training our people. Finally, we review our procedures and continue to improve as new information arises.” 

Mr. Yordy goes on to compliment the drilling community as we all pull together to provide each other information and figure out the best ways to tackle this crisis. With his research, he interviewed Jeff Williams, former National Ground Water Association (NGWA) president. Mr. Williams and other industry experts have created a guideline for operating procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. We highly recommend you read this interview and review the findings and procedures set forth.

Read the full National Driller article and excerpts from Mr. Yordy’s interview with Mr. Williams here: What are Best Practices for Drillers During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Stay safe everyone!

*The employees of Boart Longyear have long prided themselves on a robust safety culture. Embodying a core value of “Safety First” is evident in the company’s recent 2019 safety achievement with the company hitting an incredible milestone of 14.5 million consecutive man-hours worked with no Lost Time Injuries (LTI), and 18 months completely LTI-free. 

Boart Longyear’s Response to COVID-19

Boart Longyear’s new critical risk management programs and simplified company field standards support employees in understanding, embracing, and practicing an exceptional safety culture. The Company focuses on safety programs like THINK (Take the time, Hazard recognition, Identify the risk, Necessary controls applied, and Keep safety first), Stop Work Authority (authorizes and mandates employees immediately stop any work that does not comply with safety standards), the Golden Rules of Safety, the Rules of the Road, and Make it Personal Cards with safety program basics, a signature for their commitment to work safely, and a place for a photo of why they are working safely.

“I am incredibly proud of the employees at Boart Longyear. I acknowledge each one of them for their hard work, for embracing and living our high safety standards and world-class safety programs, and the way everyone takes responsibility for their own safety and keeping each other safe. This is a significant accomplishment for Boart Longyear and is a great outcome resulting from the efforts of everyone in the Company living and breathing our safety culture,” said President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Olsen. “I congratulate every Boart Longyear employee for this prestigious achievement.

”The Company acknowledges the participation, collaboration, and contributions from every level and department within Boart Longyear. Denis Despres, Chief Operating Officer stated, “On a site level, we value the everyday procedures from standardized pre-start information meetings that focus on daily job tasks and associated hazards and risks, our online data management system including the system’s mobile app, and the daily team and individual-based field level risk assessments. At Boart Longyear, it is everyone’s responsibility to work safely.”

Video: “Make it Safe | Make it Personal | Make it Home” 

Crews gave Denis Despres, COO, Brian Maeck, Global EHS Director, Fernando Riquelme, RD – LAM, Guillaume Dubuy, RD – EMEA, John Kirkwood, RD – APAC a heart felt site induction, not only discussing critical risk, but also what drives them to ensure safety excellence at work.

The crew took their time explaining the new Critical Risk Management program and associated site risks to visiting EXCO representatives, three Regional Directors and the Global EHS Director, further demonstrating their buy-in and passion towards safety.

Examples such as when the crew recognized that they were too close to a rock wall they, supported by the site EHS advisor, took it upon themselves to install a screen to catch loose rock. Every step of the way, the Chilean teams have thought about each process element, and truly have put safety first, not only impressing their BHP customer but also leadership from other Regions, and our Executives. I thank them all for their safety leadership and dedication in raising the bar.

-Brian Maeck

Site collateral – crews each had Critical Risk Management posters and cards with controls posted on the back; and confidently spoke about the associated risks on their site and process. They also directed the attention of the visitors to the 16 EHS Management Field Reference standards, highlighting applicable requirements.

Hand’s off! Crews do not touch rods or tubes to ensure fingers and hands are not injured in the process.

To learn more about Boart Longyear's contract Drilling Services, find your local Boart Longyear representative.

Lost Time Injury Rate:

Lost Time Incidents x 200,000
         Total Work Hours

2018 was a challenging year with new employees entering the business with generally less experience, which increased job task risk. Globally consistent hazard and risk-focused onboarding and a higher level of operational risk communication through soft-start initiatives, pre-shift information meetings, and field level risk assessments, has assisted in mitigating that risk, which can be seen in recent severity rates.

The company’s programs and simplified company field standards published in January 2018 ensured understanding of company safety expectations. Also, the full utilization of the company’s online data management system mobile app has the ability to track, trend, and identify data at-risk sites, which has helped the organization respond proactively before an injury occurs. Boart Longyear’s new lead indicator programs online saw a 93% success rate in 2018, further driving severity rates down. Over 5,000 management interactions were performed by global leadership, over 50,000 training courses were completed, and over 11,000 corrective actions were completed in the company’s online systems.

These programs have again evolved for 2019 by including the company’s first ever Critical Risk Management Program. Utilizing 10 years of taxonomy data, the organization identified six critical risks. The company will now use the mobile app for inspecting Critical Controls that must be in place to mitigate the identified risks.

Global Director of EHS and Training, Brian Maeck stated, “A lot of support for these programs have come from our operations group. Business leaders were the first ones to utilize the tools to ensure we all do our part in keeping our workforce safe. I could not be more pleased with the 2018 outcomes.”

Our host, Jon Peterson (Geo Jon for fun), works for the Products division as a Customer Service Representative. Jon graduated from the University of Utah in 2015 with his Bachelors of Science in Geology. He’s worked for Boart Longyear for the last two and a half years and interned as a geologist with an exploration company for about six months prior to coming to work for Boart Longyear. Jon has been married for a year and a half and in his free time enjoys trail running, hiking, working on his yard, spending time with family, and playing with his black lab Dexter. 

We would love to hear your questions and comments below. Thanks for listening and if you liked this episode, share it on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. 

In July, Vice President of Global Engineering Shayne Drivdahl discussed how Boart Longyear’s engineering team might be one of the company’s best-kept secrets. Providing a variety of professional drilling services to exploration and mining companies, the Company also designs, manufactures, and sells reliable drilling rigs, quality tooling, and accurate instrumentation.

Thanks to its team of engineers located throughout the world, the company is able to develop products and put them through rigorous testing in the hands of its own Drilling Services personnel. Tools and equipment are not only tested in the lab but also in the field. The collaboration between members of the global engineering team and Boart Longyear’s drillers elevates the performance of both Boart Longyear Drilling Products and Boart Longyear Drilling Services. Read the full article to learn more about the beneficial synergy gained between the two divisions.

In July, Design Engineer Anthony Lachance wrote about the newest developments and early testing results from the Roller Latch Overshot. Since Boart Longyear introduced the Q Wireline system in 1966, retrieving the inner tube from the core barrel has been handled the same way: an overshot with lifting dogs (spring loaded hooked “fingers”) is lowered or pumped into the hole until it snaps over a pivoting spearhead mechanism affixed to the inner tube assembly. Once the head assembly has been removed from the hole, the driller uses the pivoting spearhead to position the head assembly on their workspace and squeezes the back of the lifting dogs to release.

Since being introduced, this system has had the same basic issues. Learn how Boart Longyear’s new Roller Latch^TM Overshot has been highly anticipated and how drillers are noting the various positive developments: it’s easier to use, saves on wireline, and makes working with Q/P Roller Latch head assemblies much easier in difficult conditions.

In March, Global EHS Manager Brian Maeck introduced us to the Boart Longyear Glove Matrix. More and more mining and drilling companies are developing automation technologies to improve employee safety and efficiency. However, there are still plenty of risks for the hard-working hands of drillers: pinch points, sharp edges, rotating equipment, chemicals, etc. Hand injuries are still one of the most common and preventable injuries.

Along with following safe practices like using a risk assessment prior to any task, using the appropriate work gloves can dramatically reduce hand injuries. One solution, designed and developed to help employees select the correct glove for the task, is the Boart Longyear Glove Matrix. The Glove Matrix clearly sets the guidelines for what glove to use and when to use them. Read the article and download Boart Longyear’s Glove Matrix.

In August, Senior Engineer Andrew Salisbury wrote about the MDR500 rig’s success. This mobile underground diamond drill rig was designed exclusively for Boart Longyear Drilling Services. It leverages the upcoming LMi power and control interface and comes equipped with 500m of on-board rod storage (NQ rods) making it a self-sufficient mobile drill rig.

The MDR500 was the long-term brainchild of Geoff Moroney (Drilling Services Asia Pacific Fleet & Asset Manager) and John Kirkwood (Drilling Services Asia Pacific Regional Director). The project was given the go-ahead in the third quarter of 2016 aftermarket research indicated that there was a desire from sections of the Australian market for a medium depth underground diamond drill rig which was in the most part self-sufficient and could move quickly from hole to hole.

In this article, Anthony Markham, Senior Product Designer of Capital Equipment, describes the challenge Boart Longyear’s Drilling Services faced with moving existing StopeMaster equipment safely and quickly through a mine. With the combined dedication of many remarkable Boart Longyear employees around the world, the team started engineering a new StopeMaster MDR rig that would solve the issues the mining company was experiencing.

The newly commissioned StopeMaster MDR rig solved the issues of moving the StopeMaster, making moves from stope to stope faster and requiring less time and resources from the mine. The StopeMaster MDR equipment is also safer with rod handling capabilities and semi-autonomous drilling with a new LMi control panel which controls both the rod handler and the StopeMaster MDR rig. Check out this article and download the Drilling Services Overview to learn more about Boart Longyear Drilling Services capabilities, fleet, safety programs, and drilling methods and applications.

Is a career in drilling right for you? In this article, the challenges of drilling are discussed, and key factors are considered when researching jobs in the drilling and mining industry. For example, at drill sites, a certain level of physical fitness is required for employees to adequately carry out their tasks. Working on a drill rig involves labor-intensive activities such as heavy lifting and manual handling.

A career in drilling is an important decision for both employees and their families. Individuals who work in drilling enjoy work that is often physically demanding in challenging conditions. But they’re also aware of the great benefits and rewards of this industry. If a career in drilling seems like a good fit for you, this article is a must-read.

In June, Global Product Manager Zac Strauss discussed the most important factors when considering a new drill rig purchase. Buying a new drill rig is a big decision and many variables and factors affect that decision. The biggest question one has to answer is, “Will this drill rig make money? Or cost more to own than some other option that can accomplish the same for less?”

It’s important to take time to consider options. Evaluate current drill rig fleet and consider what it will take to get everything maintained and updated to be competitive. Does your drilling rig take advantage of recent innovations and meet the latest safety standards? If repairs and available parts outweigh returns, look at updating your fleet. The number one reason to buy new equipment versus used equipment is to enhance productivity, improve safety, and enjoy long-term reliability.

Since 1890, Boart Longyear has been transforming the drilling industry with innovations like the wireline for faster core retrieval, dual-tube flooded reverse circulation drilling, and sonic drilling for mining applications. This article focuses on the LR500, a drill rig built specifically to meet the increasing needs for deeper dewatering wells for Nevada mining.

Check out this article to discover the distinct features of the LR500 such as the size and weight of the casing, how it’s electrically powered, and its automated drilling features. Also be sure to download the Drilling Services fleet depth chart to discover the wide range of services Boart Longyear provides.

In February, Chris Lambert, Senior Product Manager, discusses different factors that affect the way drilling could be affecting bits. The best way to save money on consumables like bits is to check drilling methods. In this article, these simple tips could decrease operating costs and add more cash to the bottom line.

Quick tips are also included, which give insight into rotational speed, weight on bits, torque, penetration rate, water flow, and sharpening. You can also download the Diamond Products Catalog to explore the full range of diamond bits Boart Longyear offers.

John Roberts, Professional Geologist and Commercial Manager for Boart Longyear, describes the complexities of designing and planning a drilling project. There are many risk factors which need to be considered in order to mitigate issues that could impact productivity and/or budget, ultimately impeding the success of the project.

This article addresses considerations and common pitfalls in drill pad planning, which is critical to the mobilization of the drills and crews that will complete your carefully designed drilling project. The first thoughts should be “what purpose is the hole, and what type of drilling will be performed.” Make sure to download the recommended drill pad layouts!

As we move into 2019, you can look forward to additional case studies, interesting and complex drilling projects, tips and tricks, and how-to articles. We are working hard to bring you the content that makes a difference and makes your life a little easier. Thank you for reading INSITE and engaging with Boart Longyear. We couldn’t do any of it without all of you! Wishing all of you a successful and prosperous 2019!

If you have any questions or feedback, we would love to hear from you! You can leave comments below by clicking to expand on the icon and word DISCUSSION.

Drills are driven, flown, and hand-carried into remote locations to help discover and define precious resources. Drill teams leave their families and the safety of modern technology to help search for the next big strike. The satisfaction of being part of the bigger picture is incredibly rewarding, but nothing is more rewarding than returning home and sharing the adventure with friends and family. Being part of an exploration team takes extensive training, knowledge, and trust. From the first day of employment, team members are trained in proper operating procedures and safety of each task required of them. They build knowledge from each project they complete, building a wide range of competencies and the ability to problem solve onsite issues.

As the years go by, the employee moves from novice to veteran, offering years of experience to help complete the most demanding projects. In the drilling industry, the more experience an employee has, the more they become invaluable. Training is the base and knowledge creates the structure of a great team member, but trust is what keeps all projects moving forward to the end goal. It’s confidence in each other, from the new hire to the twenty-year veteran that they will operate safely. If a team member sees an unsafe act, they will say, “STOP” before that act potentially becomes an incident.  Boart Longyear utilizes the Stop Work Authority which empowers all team members, regardless of seniority, to stop work anytime there is an unsafe condition. . Knowing that your colleagues have your back, and you have theirs, allows for safe and productive work. Proper utilization of the Stop Work Authority maintains a safe job site; yet there are moments on every project that someone should have said “STOP,” but it never happened. What prevents an employee from speaking up? Let’s drill down into three safety scenarios from different companies and projects around the world that can help teach employees to speak up.   

Drilling requires employees who are mentally and physically tough. The job requires men and women who can work in a wide range of weather conditions, completing demanding tasks like tripping pipe and handling casing. In the past, when a job becomes too difficult to complete the other team members will shout to “Man up” or other unwelcomed words of encouragement. On a cathodic protection well project in west Texas, two team members were attempting to remove a 12” tricone bit from a stabilizer while the tooling was in the table. After several unsuccessful attempts to unscrew the bit, employee A told employee B to use the 48” aluminum pipe on the table. Employee B knew that the wrench was the wrong tool for the job and as he started to explain that, employee A said, “Man up, stop being afraid.” On the second attempt to free the bit the wrench exploded with the handle hitting employee B above the left eye requiring 18 stitches. Two other team members watched the entire event happen without speaking up or saying, “STOP.” Drilling is a rough and tough job where no one onsite wants to look weak. However, that is how accidents have the potential to become fatal. All team members onsite had the proper training to say, “Stop. This is the wrong tool for the job.” A good safety culture starts with eliminating the “man up” ways of operating and replaces it with team members who trust one another. Team members who are willing to speak up when a procedure is unsafe. Man up can quickly become man down when no one speaks up.

Drilling is a skill that is developed over years of experience; often the driller on site has triple the experience as the new hire. On a coring project in the Atacama desert, a drill crew was setting up the rig for their third 1,000 meter hole. The driller attached the mud hose to the pump and prepared to start pumping drill fluid. Several hours into the first shift of the new hole, the mud line blew off the pump, striking a helper and knocking him to the ground. 

Learn more about Boart Longyear's safety culture of individual empowerment and how everyone is responsible for safety in the Make it Safe video.

The helper suffered a small laceration and bruising. An accident investigation uncovered that the whip check safety cable was not attached per standard operating procedure. An employee onsite said that before joining his new crew they always connected the wire but his new driller and crew did not attach the cables on the previous two holes. The employee thought the driller knew best for his rig and did not speak up. Safe projects are the most efficient, and safety depends on following proper procedures every time. All employees on site should have said, “STOP” on the first and second hole when the safety cable was not attached. 

Drilling is a complex process requiring every team member onsite to be focused on the tasks at hand. Rotating tooling, suspended tooling overhead, slips, trips, and falls are just a short list of hazards while working around a drill rig. On a construction project just outside downtown Toronto, a two-person team drilled 6” auger holes to 17 meters. The two had worked together for over ten years on similar projects across Canada. It was a rainy Tuesday morning, and the team had five holes to complete for the day. The team would switch roles from driller to helper after each hole, allowing both employee A and employee B the opportunity to work in both positions. After the second hole, employee A noticed on social media on his smartphone that a family member had been injured in a car accident. As the team progressed onto hole three, employee B was drilling as employee A was preparing augers. Employee B could tell that employee A was not himself, but they continued to work. As they connected the final auger, employee A put his hand on the head while employee B was still drilling and employee A smashed his pinky and ring finger. When employee A was asked what happened, and why he would place his hand in a pinch point, he was at a loss. He further explained that the car accident photos on social media had him thinking about his family and not the job. Smartphones give us the ability to be updated on situations in a moment’s notice and because of this technology we can physically be on the job site and mentally be somewhere else. Employee B said at the accident investigation that she knew something was wrong but did not speak up. After the fact, employee B said she should have shut down the rig and let employee A take time to find out the severity of the injured family member. The Stop Work Authority is designed to stop unsafe acts, and sometimes that act can be checking to make sure a colleague is mentally safe.

In each scenario, there was a moment where an accident could have been prevented by saying “STOP.” No one starts the work day with the intent to be unsafe or injured. In general, accidents happen from a lack of training, a lapse in judgment, complacency, or being distracted. Some employees worry about that moment of awkwardness from stopping a colleague or being wrong about stopping a colleague. The moment of awkwardness that could occur by saying “STOP” is a feeling that is short-lived, compared to the memory of knowing you could have stopped the unsafe act before your colleague was injured or killed. That awkward feeling is far better than saying, “I am sorry” to the family of an injured or killed employee. The Stop Work Authority was created to prevent catastrophic events and to educate everyone on site. No team member will be upset by the use of a Stop Work Authority that was unnecessary. If that situation occurs, it is a perfect time to educate the team on the task and the risk involved. The level of risk increases by the distance to the nearest trauma center. Modern medicine has significantly increased patients’ odds of fully recovering from a catastrophic injury. A worker who crushes his hand on a job site in downtown Los Angeles has an excellent chance of full recovery. However, a worker on a core rig in the Cascade Mountains has less than a 50% chance of keeping the appendage, let alone regaining mobility. Medical advances are only impactful if the injured can be treated immediately by a state-of-the-art trauma center. Saying “STOP” is always the right decision.  

To be a Boart Longyear employee is to know that safety is a core value. The ultimate goal of every project is to bring the team members home safely. Stop Work Authority works because of the trust the team has in one another. It creates a secondary safety net allowing everyone onsite the ability to say stop before an accident becomes catastrophic. Proper utilization and execution of the Stop Work Authority come from training, knowledge, and trust. Every person on a Boart Longyear job site is welcome and expected to speak up when they see an unsafe task. The Stop Work Authority is a powerful tool that creates an evolving safety culture that is actively improving upon itself every day. 

Learn more about Boart Longyear's safety culture of individual empowerment and how everyone is responsible for safety in the Make it Safe video.

Reducing risk in any situation can mean the difference between a healthy life and serious injury, or even death. Your head is especially vulnerable on the job site and is the reason hard hats are required to protect against the unexpected. It seems obvious, and after all that safety training it shouldn’t be a question whether to wear appropriate safety gear or not, yet head injuries from lack of wearing a hard hat still happen.

In an article entitled, “Hard Hats Protect Our Greatest Safety Device,” Brock Yordy, a global drill trainer and consultant, states, “We play a voluntary game of brain damage roulette any time we think it is OK to not wear a hard hat on any jobsite with overhead hazards.”

To properly protect your head, your hard hat should fit securely and be inspected daily. Originally published by National Driller, this article explains what to look for and why head protection is so vital. Some of the questions, observations, and tips given about hard hats could possibly save your life.

Take a closer look at this recommended reading by clicking here, “Hard Hats Protect Our Greatest Safety Device.”

Has your hard hat saved your life? Share an experience by clicking on the gray discussion bar below.

The opinions and recommendations contained in the recommended article are solely those of the author. This article has been used by permission. It can be found published on National Driller.

In a recent article published by National Driller and entitled, “Tips for Situational Awareness to Keep Drilling Jobs Safer,” Brock Yordy, a global drill trainer and consultant, states, “If we know what is dangerous and respect it, we can minimize the possibility for failure that leads to injury or death. Reducing risk or tragedy depends on situational awareness of the entire job.”

Mr. Yordy shared with us that during his career he has worked on several Boart Longyear sites in North America and Latin America. Along with these and other exciting career experiences, he’s learned a lot about understanding ones surroundings to best adapt thinking and behavior and create a safer working environment.

This informative article continues with a number of insights and beneficial tips to guide drillers through recognizing what hazards are present and the actions they can take to keep them and their crews safe. Points made include understanding the environment, conditions, weather, and consideration of local wildlife. Next, drillers need to adhere to consistent practices, trying not to introduce variables that could catch people off guard.

“The risk area around rotating drill rods is the first that gets taken for granted.” This truth often leads to trouble in the field and allows Mr. Yordy to introduce observations and more helpful information that drillers should consider.

We recommend reading the full article, “Tips for Situational Awareness to Keep Drilling Jobs Safer,” written by Brock Yordy and published on National Driller’s website.

Boart Longyear employs progressive and effective safety programs to protect the health and safety of our employees, contractors, and visitors at all of our sites and facilities. The company enjoys a unique position as not only are we a pioneer of innovative equipment, but through our Drilling Services division we also get to use the equipment in the field and experience firsthand what is needed to get the job done right. Safety tips are continually shared and situations monitored to educate and cultivate an interdependent safety culture.

Please share your safety tips by clicking on the gray discussion bar below.

This is not a new thought as we hear so often about ‘best practices’ and have many laws, regulations, policies, and procedures that we must adhere to. Protection, safety and security is often the underlying reason behind what we are required to do. We must abide by the law to stop at a red light not because of the threat of a ticket, but because ignoring it could bring severe consequences to ourselves, others, or property.

In the drilling industry, safety is critical. Although equipment is continually improving for productivity and safety, human supervision and interaction are still required and we know, as the English poet Alexander Pope pronounced, “To err is human...”

No one is perfect, but that is the fun of living in a world with so much variety. We would all like to think we have it all figured out, but the reality is that we always have something new to learn. And sometimes we go through an experience and immediately adjust behavior only to find that a short time later our habitual tendencies put us right back to before we learned our new-found experiential knowledge. Who hasn’t been sunburned more than once, or that blister reappears because once again we didn’t use gloves when gardening?

So, how do we learn from our mistakes and help others learn from these mistakes so they don’t go down that same possibly hazardous path? There are obviously many things that can be done, but here we will approach one way that has made a huge impact on improving safety for drilling activities around the world.

Boart Longyear’s Environmental Health and Safety team (E&HS) incorporated an incident-management database system to track, report, and promote a conscientious safe working environment. The company is not the first to use such a system, and fortunately many companies today have similar safety database systems. The premise behind the system is to reduce risk by helping people learn and change so they will practice safer behaviors and proactively address hazards before they result in an injury.

Employees are trained to report any incident, big or small, and designated employees enter all incidents, near misses, and management interactions into the incident management system.

• A gas cap is missing from a vehicle… it is typed into the system.
• A deer runs in front of the truck… even without contact, it’s entered as a near miss.
• A driller feels dehydrated and is required by his manager to go drink more water… it’s reported and entered in the system.
• An employee uses a wrench and bruises an elbow… It’s entered into the system.

A “Daily Incident Report” is emailed out daily around the world. Employees review the daily incident report to make them aware of potential hazards and in turn make needed behavioral or procedural changes—now that’s continual improvement!

Recent upgrades to the Boart Longyear incident management system have included a mobile app version for ease of use including entering data, tracking incidents, near misses, and management interactions. An easy-to-use inspections module was also recently added to the system. Information can be completed 100% in the app, with or without an internet connection, and then sent to the global collection database instantaneously or when the person gets back into reach of cellular or WIFI connections.

We don’t know anyone that would disagree on the benefits of implementing more safety procedures to keep employees and others safe. Even a precarious daredevil has built-in safety nets to give his audience thrills for yet another day. Where the incident reporting system goes beyond the safety nets is that it also captures the before-unseen information for potential harm and flags it for an immediate thoughtful response.

When a company uses a safety management system, there are many advantages to the knowledge that is collected and disseminated. The priority is safety and warning others of potential risks always helps to place harm at a well-planned distance.

Exploration and mining companies look for contractors that make safety a high priority. Lost-time incidents (LTI) are the last thing anyone wants. It’s not only about making sure people work safely, but that they can go home to their loved ones in the same physical condition as when they reported for work.

Incident management systems do cost time and money to train on, implement, and utilize. But that cost is small in comparison to saving a life and protecting investments. In the long run, safety and incident management systems increase productivity and keep operations running successfully.

At Boart Longyear, “Safety First” is a core value. The incident management system is a great way for all employees to share while making safety a daily focus. Many times the system has proven to be a useful part of the repertoire of EHS tools that keep everyone responsible, accountable and safe.  

For Boart Longyear, fostering a safety culture that emphasizes why we work safely is more than just a safety program—it’s the way employees work every day. No matter what you do, take time to make safety part of your daily activities.