An industry-wide collaboration enabled the International Association of Drilling Contractors to develop a new well-control training and assessment program that is targeted toward an individual’s actual job, IADC executives told an Offshore Technology Conference news briefing May 6 in Houston.
The new program, WellSharp, emphasizes training for every employee having any well-control responsibilities, whether the employee is based in the field or on the rig, said Mark Denkowski, IADC executive vice-president, operational integrity.
Denkowski said the new program seeks to focus on providing knowledge key to specific individuals to better do their jobs. Training categories were expanded in the new program to five levels.
The first level is awareness, which is something that an office worker might fine useful. The other levels are introductory, new driller, supervisor, and engineer.
“Industry said we need better well-control training. We need more consistent human behavior,” Denkowski said.
WellSharp succeeds IADC’s well-control program called WellCap. Denkowski said the WellSharp program represents a complete redesign in the way the training program operates. “In the future, WellSharp will be expanded to include cementers and loggers,” Denkowski said.
IADC Pres. and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Colville said the WellSharp program “ensures that rig crews know what they need to do in any circumstance; they have the skills to do it right every time, all the time.”
Colville said early response from operators and regulators indicates they believe the program to “be a step-change in industry well-control training.”
IADC accreditation program, including WellSharp, guide companies to ensure comprehensiveness in critical training content and adherence to recognized industry standards.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
*Paula Dittrick is editor of OGJ’s Unconventional Oil & Gas Report.
