Woodside

Salt. Humidity. Tropical storms. Woodside faces often brutal conditions offshore. Our CorrosionMaster, however, loves a challenge.

As an Australian oil and gas company with a global presence, Woodside is recognised for its world-class capabilities in exploration, development and the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Woodside's achievements in oil and gas are long and illustrious, underpinned by 60 years' experience. So when industry leaders go searching for a product they can rely on, they go searching for excellence.

The problem

Before partnering with Branach in 2014, Woodside were using a fleet of timber ladders to access scaffold on their rigs. Sure, using timber helped combat issues of metal corrosion caused by salt and water, but the often-brutal tropical weather lead them to rot over time.

When the timber degraded and weak points formed on the ladders, a number of the rungs failed resulting in more than a few near miss incidents, placing workers' safety at risk.

The assessment

We decided to have a look at how Woodside operated first hand. We flew across the country and boarded a rig to talk to employees about how we could make their job easier. And safer!

We watched how they went about their work and discussed potential products that would fix their issues.

After filtering through our notes and photos, it was clear that the Woodside ladders needed to be lightweight, have a load rating of 150 kilograms, not absorb water and, most importantly, be corrosion resistant.

The Solution

A solution was developed using products unique to Branach. We sent a trial fleet of CorrosionMaster FND single ladders to the rig. The all-fibreglass ladders were lightweight, sturdy and able to withstand the most challenging Woodside testing.

The trial was a huge success with all timber ladders immediately removed and replaced by 400 Branach ladders.

The Result

We were delighted to provide Woodside with a solution to a height safety issue that had troubled them for years. The result was a massive improvement in employee safety and productivity.