Sitting on beams in the centre of the drillfloor is the rotary table, this was once the driving force that turned the drill string; on many rigs (offshore) this is now being done with the top drive; however the rotary has not become obsolete as it still supports the drill string weight.

Below the rotary is some of the most expensive real-estate that money can buy a 36” diameter section can very be extremely expensive once the drill bit goes through the rotary.

Within a short distance of the rotary but still on the drillfloor are the tool used, tools that are design to get the job done, tools that are often taken beyond the manufacture recommend limits, most of these tools are within easy reach of the people that will use them (roughnecks Floorman).

On the more modern offshore rigs many of these tools are now computer run by the driller, he/she sits in the drillers control room (DCR) that is situated to the side and in one of the corners of the rig, some of these control rooms sit on the drillfloor, others are raised 10 to 12 feet giving the driller a bird’s eye view of the floor, the more tools that are run using a computer to control them the more people needed in the control room.

Often there are two chairs both have identical functions, but only one has the power to operate a given tool at the time, under such conditions the person in the chair must assign the tool to their chair  once done the tool cannot be taken by the other chair until it is released.

Another feature of the modern drillfloor is the Zone Management System (ZMS) your rig may have a different name for it but at the end of the day it all boils down to the same thing, the computer system watching over the tools to stop them colliding, Safety has now become a major issue within the industry, bypass the ZMS and you are bypassing the system that has been developed to help keep the rig a safer place to work

In this chapter of the drillfloor web site we will take a look at some of the tools being used on the floor today and some that are still in use after 60 years   

Under normal drilling conditions the drillfloor is supervised by the driller, and it is the drillers responsibility to keep the rig safe,  such a position can be very stressful at times, planning a well is one thing, drilling it is another, although the drilling parameter are predetermined there is no telling what Mother Nature has in store, and sometimes she can be a bitch, the driller is also responsible for the hands-on training his crew: "hence the saying there are no bad crews just bad drillers"?

For many of the older people (the dinosaurs as we are often called) drilling is a way of life, to us it is a trade that has been handed down from one generation to the next, in all fairness very little has change over the years, many of the tools used today have been around for a long time, what has changed is the way they are controlled, other things that have changed is the lack of experienced people, and attitude. for the industry to move forward, both must change or the billions of dollars being spent right now (2003 - 2015) will be wasted,