In this video, experience professionals make one of the most dangerous jobs I’ve ever seen, look as mundane as me writing this post from the comfort of my own home. Literally everything in this scene could kill or maim any of these guys if someone loses focus. I’m having a bit of a hard time describing exactly why this video struck me, I just find it stunning.
Redditor StevosaurusRex gives a helpful play-by-play of the action:
the water keeps the rig floor clean by washing away the mud as it comes from the hole. they drop in slips to hold the pipe at the right height so it’s easier to get their tongs in place (the roughneck steps on the slips). one tong pulls, the other runs backup, just like you would with a couple wrenches at home. you can see steel cable (attached to the tongs) bouncing in the air. if that cable breaks and the driller (only guy not working 🙂 ) has too much pressure on it, those tongs could come around and kill/maim those guys.
use the mud shield, because that stuff is slick and makes life not great. not sure what device they’re removing, but it gets a quick check and goes into new pipe. two tongs (make up and breakout) attach the two sections of pipe and the spinning chain is a great way to get the threads started, but will also kill/maim if it breaks.
see the guy in the green hard hat fighting to hold on to the heavy as hell, slick, unwieldy pipe so it doesn’t kill/maim the rest of his crew? he’s tired, but he’s fighting hard because that slinging pipe will make him unpopular with what’s left of the crew is he lets go.