DGS Lightning Safety Policy

The purpose of this policy is to increase the safety of personnel in the field and decrease the likelihood of being struck by lightning while conducting field work.

General Field Operations

Supervisors of field crews should be aware of the daily weather forecast. In the event of a forecast for thunderstorms, the weather forecast should be monitored throughout the day. If severe weather is imminent, field operations should cease or at least be conducted in close proximity to the field vehicle. If lightning or thunder are observed or heard and are less than six miles away (30 seconds between flash and thunder), field work should temporarily cease and field personnel should remain in the field vehicle or other safe location until the storm passes (30 minutes after the last observed lightning or thunder).

Drilling

When lightning is seen or thunder is heard, regardless of the distance, all drilling operations should be shut down. If possible, the mast on the rig should be lowered and connection with the drill pipe in the ground broken. Operations should not resume until all threat from lightning is over (30 minutes after the last observed lightning or thunder). It is recommended to check with personnel at the office with access to radar images to determine if other storms are following the one that shut operations down before resuming drilling.

General

All DGS personnel are requested to familiarize themselves with lightning safety either by visiting the EHS web site or reading other available resources.