Activities undertaken by workers in the drilling industry can be very hazardous. Despite being accepted that these are ‘part of the job’ and usually not life-threatening, hand injuries can be costly, resulting in lost productivity, and sometimes a reduced quality of life.
Whether they are caught between objects, struck, cut, bruised, broken, exposed to chemical, heat or burns; injuries to hands and fingers can be more painful than other parts of the body due to the high number of nerve endings and pain receptors in these areas.
When identifying or assessing hazards; pinch points, physical processes and exposure to chemicals are important to recognise. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gloves should be the last resort option in an injury prevention plan, with elimination, substitution, engineering and administration being more effective in reducing risk.
At REFLEX, our technologies focus on improving the overall drilling process by providing solutions that are fast, accurate and easy to use, with the least disruption to the drilling cycle. The
REFLEX CORE REMOVAL TOOL™ is part of our Drilling Optimisation solution, and is one of our products designed to minimise risk of injury, as well as protecting the core sample and orientation mark.
Traditionally after the core orientation mark has been drawn onto the face of the drill core (captured in the lifter case on the inner core tube), common practice is to leave the lifter case connected to the inner tube and try to remove the core sample forcefully. This can be done by either banging it onto something hard or hitting it with a hammer. Often this small section of core with the physical core orientation mark becomes jammed in the lifter case, resulting in damage to the core sample and a loss of the core orientation mark. It can also cause damage to the innertube or hammer. This process can expose the driller’s assistant to impact injury from hammers and potential eye or laceration injury from flying rock chips.
The REFLEX CORE REMOVAL TOOL™ was developed to provide a hands free way (via the magnetic clamps) to hold the tool on the end of the inner core tube, keeping hands and feet away from the impact zone during core removal. The magnetic clamp action of the tool allows the tool to completely encapsulate the protruding core sample eliminating the possibility of flying rock chips.
The soft tapered central dome section within the REFLEX CORE REMOVAL TOOL™ concentrates the impact, releasing the stuck core sample to the center of the core instead at the edges like traditional methods. This allows the core sample to be released with minimal damage and without losing the orientation mark (which is almost always drawn on the outer diameter of the protruding core sample).This method is particularly useful in underground environments, or where there is little working space or wood blocks available.
The REFLEX CORE REMOVAL TOOL™ is compatible with most standard core sizes and adheres to industry accepted standards such as the Finite Element Analysis (FEA), which is used by IMDEX as part of our strict mechanical design and testing process.
Not only does the REFLEX CORE REMOVAL TOOL™ ensure accuracy and insurance for core orientation and core sample data, it also eliminates the risk of injury in the physical day-to-day operations of drillers. Safety is an essential component to the product design of REFLEX technologies, along with our aim to continually improve processes in the drilling cycle, as well as providing tools that aid the working relationship between driller and geologist.
For more information
For more information about the REFLEX CORE REMOVAL TOOL™ and our
Drilling Optimisation solution, please visit
www.reflexnow.com or contact your nearest REFLEX representative.
REFLEX is a leading IMDEX brand renowned for its real-time subsurface intelligence solutions for the global minerals industry. The brand’s technologies include downhole instrumentation, data management and analytical software for geological modeling.
