Strengthening industry’s safety foundation: IADC set to roll out upgraded Safety Alert system
By Jason McFarland, IADC President
Safety isn’t just a priority in the drilling industry — it’s the very bedrock of responsible energy development. As we navigate through these challenging times, maintaining an unwavering focus on safety becomes even more critical. In an industry where the stakes are as high as life itself, our commitment to safety must never falter, regardless of market conditions or operational pressures.
The numbers from last year tell an encouraging story. We saw safety and incident data trending in a positive direction for our industry, according to the IADC Incident Statistics Program’s 2024 annual report. Incident rates dropped slightly in 2024 from 2023, despite an increase in reported manhours worked. Fatalities were reduced, and the global lost-time and recordable incident rates declined by 7% and nearly 10%, respectively. While the year-to-date data for 2025 shows the total recordable incident rate remaining steady compared with last year’s numbers, fatalities are trending upward. This underscores the critical importance of our continued focus, reminding us that our work in this area is never finished.
When we keep the focus on improving safety within our individual companies, we can move the needle collectively. The safety of our people doesn’t exist in silos within each of our organizations, though. When we work together to share best practices and lessons learned, everyone benefits. The truth is that we’re in this together, and there is tremendous value in approaching safety in a collaborative manner.
An excellent example of this is IADC’s Safety Alert system, where members can submit information about incidents or near-misses, allowing others to learn from them. An exciting new project to revamp the IADC Safety Alert database has recently been completed to make this system even more effective and impactful.
The purpose of this project, spearheaded by the IADC Health, Safety, Environment & Training (HSET) Committee, was to develop an enhanced and more efficient IADC Safety Alert process and system to evaluate industry safety trends and share lessons learned. A survey found that, while many of our members recognized value in our safety alerts, the processes involved in submitting and reviewing these alerts were unclear and quite manual. It was time for an upgrade.
A member workgroup was formed for this project, and we partnered with Mi4 Corp, the software provider with which we recently collaborated to modernize the IADC Incident Statistics Program. Key benefits of the newly renovated Safety Alert system include an automated submittal and review process, increased consistency in information submitted, an automated safety alert distribution process, functionality for users to search, sort and save alerts, and much more.
This updated system will make it even easier for our industry to share potentially life-saving information with one another. Our members can now receive the newest safety alerts directly on their phones and access the wealth of knowledge stored within the archives at any time.
Beyond system improvements, our members have also been busy creating and publishing new resources this year. The IADC HSET Committee recently released the electronic IADC Drilling Rig Safety Inspection Checklist, which helps keep the operational integrity of rigs compliant. Regular use of this resource promotes safety by identifying concerns before they become hazards. The IADC HSE Case Guidelines for Land Drilling Units were also recently published, providing the onshore drilling industry with a tool that harmonizes global health, safety and environmental principles for drilling units into a single methodology.
Ensuring our workforce has the highest quality of training and competency is critical to safety — that’s why our accreditation programs continue to be a cornerstone of our member services. A project is under way to redesign the IADC KREW (Knowledge Retention & Education for our Workforce) online learning system. This innovative hybrid learning approach is designed to improve knowledge retention and allow professionals to continuously strengthen their skills through micro-learning sessions. The new system will have innovative content design and delivery platforms, enhanced user support, and the ability to offer a full content library addressing all curriculum within WellSharp Driller and Supervisor level courses.
The initiatives we’ve launched this year are investments in our industry’s future, aiming to build a stronger foundation for the people who power our energy sector. But our work is far from over.
When we keep our focus on safety and collaborate on raising the bar collectively, we’re not just checking a box — we’re honoring a commitment to ensure our workforce returns home safely each day. That commitment doesn’t end with a single initiative or achievement — it’s renewed every day, on every job site, with every decision we make. Together, we have the power to make our industry safer, one shared lesson and one collaborative effort at a time. DC
Click here to purchase the IADC Drilling Rig Safety Inspection Checklist.
