Rig or wellsite safety intervention

#Embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and apparatus for increasing safety on or at an oil and gas rig or wellsite.

#Personnel working on or in the vicinity of equipment used on an oil and gas rig or wellsite are always at risk of injury. Numerous pieces of large handling and/or rotating equipment, which are often highly pressurized, are being operated simultaneously on the rig or wellsite and present constant hazards for injury to personnel working nearby. The risk of injury has increased in recent years as the equipment on the rig or at the wellsite is more mechanized and automated.

#Therefore, there exists a need for a new and improved rig and/or wellsite safety methods and apparatus.

#FIG. 1A illustrates one embodiment of a rig and various pieces of equipment located thereon.

#FIG. 1B illustrates another embodiment of a rig and various pieces of equipment located thereon.

#FIG. 2A is a schematic of an intervention system, according to one embodiment.

#To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially utilized with other embodiments without specific recitation.

#Embodiments of the disclosure include methods and apparatus for safety intervention on an oil and gas rig and/or at an oil and gas wellsite.

#FIG. 1A illustrates an oil and gas rig 100A having a mast 105 supported on a rig floor 110 by a frame 115, according to one embodiment. The mast 105 supports a crown block and sheave 120 from which a traveling block 135 is raised and lowered by a draw works 130 via a cable 125. Any number of pieces of tubular handling equipment (such as an elevator, a swivel, a torque head, a mud line, etc.) generally identified by reference numeral 175 may pose a safety hazard for personnel 155. For example, the tubular handling equipment 175 is suspended from the traveling block 135 by a hook 140 and used to raise and lower a tubular 150. A rotary table 145 is disposed in the rig floor 110 and may contain a kelly bushing through which the tubular 150 passes while being rotatable by the rotary table 145. Any of these pieces of tubular handling equipment may injure personnel 155.