It has been a while since I hit on the topic of personnel safety. I was recently reminded of the subject and why many in the energy industries are adopting satellite monitoring versus traditional options. The reasons for this adoption are that digital transformation's prolific spread enables:

1. Significant improvements in inspection safety and
2. Significant cost savings over older, “walk-the-lines” methods.

The story below drives home the point of how Satelytics can bring these benefits to your company.

A few weeks ago, during a golfing outing, I noticed a small plane flying very low overhead, traveling in a straight north-south line. There is a flight training school nearby, so I didn’t think anything of it at first. A few minutes later, it came back. I suddenly recalled a gas pipeline buried there and realized the plane was doing an inspection. It was so low that I could see the pilot looking over the right-of-way as the plane bounced about in a nausea-inducing manner caused by that day’s wind and thermals.

Last year, a customer confided to me, “I never want us to fly a helicopter again.” For his inspectors, the reality has been boarding a helicopter, flying two hundred feet off the ground, and searching for encroachments, damaged infrastructure, land movements, and more. Most pilots will tell you flying low and slow is not the safest practice. Accompanying inspectors often find these flights nerve-wracking.

Satelytics’ Constant Vigilance™ replaces crewed inspections, keeping employees out of harm’s way and directing them only where needed. For vegetation, we provide alerts to speciation and health, tree height, strike threat potential, loss of cover, and erosion. We also alert to human activities like digging, construction, and vehicle encroachments. These same capabilities also apply to monitoring underground assets for liquid and methane leaks in the midstream sector.

It is always refreshing to hear industry leaders excited about protecting their people with advanced technology like ours — life on the leading edge, not the bleeding edge.

Want to join their ranks? Let’s talk.