Helicopter guidelines for land seismic & helirig operations - OGP

International Association of Oil & Gas Producers
D.7.2
15. All helicopter fuel nozzles will be equipped with dust caps and bonding clips
or jacks. The nozzle should be kept off the ground and facing downward to
preclude water contamination with a drip tray below it.
16. Suspend fuel operations immediately when a lightning discharge hazard exists.
In addition to the points listed above, the following should apply to refueling from
drums or small transportable bladders:
1. Each drum of fuel should be sampled and tested with water detector capsules
or an approved paste to confirm no water contamination is present and visually
inspected for proper color, transparency and contamination.
2. Pumps used for drum refueling should be equipped with water blocking
filtration system.
3. Pump standpipes should extend no closer than 50 mm (2 inches) of the drum or
bladder bottom.
4. Before fueling the aircraft, a small amount of fuel should be pumped into a
container to remove any contaminants from the hose and nozzle.
5. Wherever possible, drums and small bladders should be left to settle for 3 hours
after transport or moving them to the refueling location, before use.
6. The drum or bladder should be positioned as far as possible from the aircraft.
D.8 Bonding and grounding
D.8.1 To minimize the fire hazard from static or stray electricity on the helicopter or
fuelling equipment, all equipment will be properly grounded to earth before fuelling
operations or the transferring of fuel from one storage tank to another.
1. All bonding and grounding cables should provide an easy path for the electricity
to flow to the earth through a conductive lead, such as braided copper cable.
2. All grounding rods will be driven into the earth at least several centimeters (this
applies to winter operations as well when possible) otherwise bonding will be
conducted.
3. Cables, clips and plugs used for bonding and grounding will be inspected and
tested for continuity checks should be done annually or after relocation of base
camp.
4. Resistance through any bonding or grounding circuit should be less then 10
ohm.
5. All connection points and grounding plugs should be clean and unpainted.
6. If the helicopter is without a bonding jack, attach the bonding clip at the end of
the nozzle bond wire to the tank filter cap before the tank filler cap is opened
to ensure that there is no difference in potential between the two elements.
Maintain this contact until the flow of fuel has stopped and the filler cap
replaced.
D.8.2 When fuelling from drums, the following precautions will be taken:
1. Ground the drum to a grounding rod.
2. Ground the helicopter to the same grounding rod.
3. Bond the drum or tank and nozzle to the helicopter before opening the filler
cap
4. Disconnection should be in the reverse order, upon completion of fuelling.
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