The raw products of oil and gas enterprises are fungible commodities that by their very nature resist tracking – bulk products that defy labeling, serialization and, often, even containment. But, that’s not to say that the oil and gas industry doesn’t face challenges common to many others. Strip away its unique end products and what is left are the people, equipment and infrastructures that explore for, capture, transport and refine those products. Accurate tracking of personnel and assets is as critical to the safety and efficiency of oil and gas operations as to any heavy industry.
Zebra Technologies’ Personnel on Board (PoB) systems were designed specifically with hazardous work environments in mind – environments that are common to the oil and gas industries. PoB automates input of real-time status and location data for on-site employees via auto-identification smart cards and combines with Zebra’s Personnel Safety System (PSS) to maximize security of on-site employees, whether the site is an off-shore drilling platform or an on-shore petroleum refinery.
Intelligent tags, access-control badges and strategically placed sensors work in concert to monitor personnel movements, providing managers at-a-glance answers to critical questions that include:
- How many employees are in each specific area at the moment?
- Does each employee have authorization to be in his or her current location?
- Is the precise location of each employee a safe one given the machinery that is operating there?
- Are all contractors currently located within their assigned areas?
- Are all visitors currently escorted and located within authorized areas?
- Are all clocked-in workers currently accounted for?
When real-time personnel locations fail to match current authorizations and predetermined parameters, appropriate managers are alerted, and in those rare instances when a general catastrophe strikes – when visibility is often limited, and seconds saved mean lives saved – PoB and PSS can aid emergency personnel in locating and rescuing effected workers, even under the harshest conditions.
On the asset-location side of the equation, the typical oil and gas site presents complex assemblies of numerous massive components that are often disassembled and reassembled as personnel transition from one process stage to another. A safe, efficient oil and gas drill site relies upon perfectly choreographed sequences unique to the processes of that industry, and that requires knowing where every critical component is located when it’s needed. Zebra Technologies’ Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS) provides real-time data on the location and status of all major components by deploying state-of-the-art radio-frequency (RFID) technology.
“Is the tool pusher for the next shift on site? Where’s the backup mud pump?” Zebra’s personnel tracking and asset visibility systems have the answers.