Winter 2009                                                                                                                     Volume 3, Number 4

 

 

 

 

I have worked with hundreds of clients over the past 20 years from consulting to manufacturing to contractors. One of my coworkers early on in my career was told by his boss that “300 people want your job.” This was the response to my buddies concern over a work related issue. Unfortunately, that sense of empowerment wasn’t, and isn’t specific to that employer. All too often I speak with people from all levels within an organization and too many feel that a job is just a job and each is only accountable for their own actions.

 

I genuinely hope that this way of thinking is becoming a habit of the past. Just think, if no one cared either way about the growth of their company, the safety of their fellow employees or the work product and customers what would happen to that company? What effect would it have to the employees and their families? I still remember that time in my career when I realized that my individual performance, no matter how exceptional I thought I was, made absolutely no difference if I didn’t work well with others.

 

This quote found its way into

 

  

 

 

 

conversation a few weeks ago;

“reasonable requests made of reasonable people should end in a positive result.” Instantly, the conversation I was having with my colleague made sense; some people just don’t see the big picture. You don’t need to like everyone to work well with them. From the perspective of a safety manager, if I ask an employee to lift with his legs, not his back, or get help from another…that is fairly reasonable. He acts accordingly, the job gets done and he doesn’t injure his back…positive result.

 

I can’t think of ANY job in our industry that isn’t made easier and results in a better outcome when you work with someone else who is on the same page. There are days we can’t seem to get people into the same book let alone the same page… but we still try.

 

In a recent employee meeting I made the following analogy; there are 54 employees who are married to 33 wives who together have 47 kids. That is 134 people whose security is dependent on the company. It’s difficult to look at things the same

 

 

way once you feel that sense of responsibility.

 

One of the positive results of the lousy economy for BL Myers is that our employee’s have developed a sense of value to the company. They are working more as a team and watch out for each other. We have several guys who are young and just starting families and they begin to realize the importance of having a “good” day. That is, working smart, staying safe and feeling a sense of accomplishment when you head home for the night (or the week in some cases). Remember that the people working around you and with you are in the same position as you. Work with them, not against them…and have a Merry Christmas.

 

 

  

It doesn’t look like much; in fact it tends to get fairly boring. Rock coring is done when a continual sample is needed from the surface to the desired depth. In this case, the depth was downwards of 600’. Considering that it was done using 5’ and 10’ NQ2 core barrels that means two weeks of standing in the same spot. Not to mention, BL Myers driller Pete Plantier set the company record of 650’ with an auger rig…many long days.

 

The process is relatively simple; a 6” casing is set 10 feet into bedrock and a continuous core with a wire line NQ2 coring system is used to extract a 3” core sample. Once analyzed, the rock core can convey what contamination took place, where and at what time. In the case of this project, there was concern of pesticides that were historically used in an apple orchard some years ago.

 

The project was completed within the boro of Schnecksville in Berks County. There were three wells all drilled to 650’ within an area of approximately 4 square miles. Once the core samples are taken and the auger rig is finished, a larger air rotary rig will set up on the hole to drill a larger diameter. This will be used by geologists for future geophysical investigations.

 

Although the process is simple the

 

collection and analysis of data is actually fairly interesting. The core samples will identify where there are fractures in the bedrock. Since water (contaminated or otherwise) runs within these fractures, it can be determined where contamination is likely to have spread. Leaks from tanks, pipelines or surface contamination such as pesticides can travel for many miles form the source. This type of information is used by planning committees, builders, developers, banks, etc. prior to the sale of property or construction activities. It can often be a very costly endeavor, but is far less expensive than cleaning up contamination that originated many years prior. For information on BL Myers Bros drilling services contact Kevin Bonacum at kbonacum@blmyers.com.

 

 

BL Myers Bros offers well drilling, geothermal and pump services along the east coats from Maine to North Carolina. We are licensed drillers in PA, NJ, DE, MD, WV, VA, NY, MA, ME, VT, NH, CT & RI.