Page 36 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2018

IH/GAS DETECTION
Combating the ‘Rodney Dangerfield Effect’ in Gas Detection
Unfortunately for the individual user and the companies that mandate these monitors, there needs to be a correction.
If not, there can be some dire consequences.
BY KYLE KRUEGER
During the past few years, the oil and gas industry has seen a large spike in four-gas monitor usage. The reason behind the in- crease is that many companies are starting
to realize that there are more common gas hazards outside of just hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
For many users, this is their first time wearing a four-gas monitor. As four-gas monitor usage has in- creased, I have been witnessing an interesting phe- nomenon that I am calling the Dangerfield Effect. In short, the monitors are getting, as the great actor and comedian Rodney Dangerfield would say, “No Respect.” That’s right, the four-gas monitor is quickly turning into the Rodney Dangerfield of the oilfield— it gets “No respect I tell ya!” Unfortunately for the in- dividual user and the companies that mandate these monitors, there needs to be a correction. If not, there can be some dire consequences. But why did this ef- fect take hold, and what can we do to fix it?
To explain the Dangerfield Effect, one needs only to look at how we maintain our relationships with our electronic devices. The health of that relationship comes down to a simple input/output equation. Let’s use our cell phones as an example. After all, a phone and a gas detector are two extremely common devices that an oilfield worker would wear and interact with on a daily basis. That being said, I have a confession to make: I LOVE MY PHONE. It provides me with im- portant updates about work, I can access information anywhere, and I can FaceTime with my family when I travel. Those are great outputs. And the only inputs that it requires are that I charge it, pay for a data plan, and don’t abuse it. If I didn’t value these outputs, then I can guarantee you that I would have the cheapest phone with no features, and it would hardly be used. However, I continue to invest in a high-quality device that requires more inputs because these outputs are so valuable and important. My phone and I have a very healthy relationship, in part because the outputs far outweigh the inputs.
Now, let’s look at the relationships that users (many are first-time users) have with their four-gas monitor. Here we have a situation where the device is asking for the following regular inputs: bump test- ing, charging, and calibrating. However, users often associate the main outputs negatively. The outputs (alarms) are sometimes considered false, annoying, or disruptive. These outputs can equate to stopping work, which can be associated with an immediate
loss to productivity (money).
Keep in mind, these outputs are arguably some of
the most important outputs in your life. Additionally, users are now finding that there are far more alarms than they were used to with their previous single-gas H2S monitor. This is leading to the manifestation of the “Dangerfield Effect,” where the inputs far out- weigh the outputs, leading to a loss of respect for these life-saving gas monitors.
When the outputs aren’t valued, then the inputs start to wane, lose their importance, or stop com- pletely. Users question, why do I even wear this thing? The only output they really want is for the device to provide little or no outputs! What this means is that the hard-inconvenient truths (the aforementioned inputs) behind the technology, and the reasons for wearing it, become unimportant or forgotten. For ex- ample, all manufacturers recommend a bump test for an IMPORTANT reason (check the fine print in each manual). We can’t ignore or market this reality away.
Steps to Fix This
Often, companies and users gain respect once there has been an unfortunate accident surrounding gas
32 Occupational Health & Safety | JUNE 2018
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