The derrick man is really in a dangerous place. Recent laws in California make it compulsory for a company to furnish life belts for the derrick man, and it is customary to allow him to build a shelter against inclement weather when he stays aloft. Many men scorn the belt, but in rainy weather or when the boards are slippery, such protection is advisable. A railing is now put around the top of the derrick. The old idea was to work on top of a derrick without any protection from slipping. A man would lift the sheaves around, or would stand with sledge hammer and work without any protection. That, however, is now becoming a thing of the past.
It is surprising that more men are not killed around derricks, but the men are active, hardy and fearless, which saves them from many accidents which softer men would suffer.
Responsibility of Drillers.—Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the responsibility of drillers. Drilling an oil well means an expenditure of from $10,000 to $100,000 or even more.
Any man in ordinary business would be very careful about the men whom he would entrust with the expenditure of such a sum of money. If the driller fails to make good he is "let go," but in, the meantime he may have wrecked a hole and caused a loss of many thousands of dollars.
Good drillers are skilled workmen and are usually men far above the average worker in intelligence. However, before entrusting the drilling of a hole to a driller look up his record and determine what he has done. Don't wait until he wrecks a hole and then investigate. That is a costly method.
Drillers in "boom" times are scarce and a good operator may feel he must take what he can get, but that is an expensive sys tem. Go slow and employ good men, even if their pay may be double what one wants to pay. A business man would not entrust a green clerk to manage his business for him, nor should an oil man take a green driller.
Drilling by oil companies prefer contract drilling to company drilling. Contracting has many advantages, especially for small companies, and even for large concerns. Drilling contracts are usually based on the price per foot for drill ing. Underreaming is paid for at a day rate. Fishing time is paid for by the contractor except where fishing is due to under reaming or other special work. The operator furnishes rig, fuel, water and casing and the contractor furnishes the drilling equip ment, which includes boilers, cables, drilling engines and drilling tools. The price per foot must be high enough to enable the con tractor to pay his drillers and obtain a profit for his work, barring poor work or extra difficulties. Drillers working for a contractor usually work harder than for a company. They realize that a contractor must make his money from their efforts and do their best to get results for him. The personal element enters into the work quite largely in this case. Good contractors get results from their men that average companies cannot get at all. Con tractors, as a rule, finish holes ahead of company men.
The main disadvantage of contracting holes lies in the fact that the quicker a contractor finishes a hole the larger his profit. This leads many times to efforts to "make hole" which may result in crooked holes, and in missing possible oil sands. However, contract drilling is generally cheaper and fully as efficient as a company doing its own work. Many companies, however, prefer their own organizations and, when operating on a large scale with good superintendents, obtain excellent results. Some large companies employ contractors besides having their own drilling organizations. This system tends to speed up the company drillers. If the company men fail to make a good hole the con tractor will get the new work.