RBDMS Field Inspection Nears Release

The Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) and state partners have been developing RBDMS Field Inspection, a web application that will assist state oil and gas inspectors in collecting comprehensive field data offline on a tablet or laptop. The application is currently in the beta testing phase with a release date set for June 30, 2018.

Most of the sites that inspectors visit every day are remote and internet connectivity is limited. RBDMS Field Inspection is designed to work as a stand-alone, offline application. Field inspectors can pull down historical inspections in the morning before going into the field. They enter data in a disconnected environment. Once they have an internet connection they can sync to the office, pushing inspections up from the device and refreshing data on the device with the most current data in the office system. “Instead of collecting information as comments and on paper, RBDMS Field Inspection will allow for collection of data that can be aggregated and analyzed,” said GWPC Project Coordinator, Dan Jarvis. “It will also eliminate the time that inspectors spend in the office typing paper field notes into their computer, freeing them up to spend more time in the field.”

RBDMS Field Inspection offers a large number of detailed inspection forms which were designed with input from various states. The comprehensive list of forms includes those relating to noise, emissions, samples, spills, signage, fencing, equipment, and well construction. Data can be collected and associated with a location or a facility. The system offers flexibility, so a facility can be defined as a variety of things including a well, compressor, pipeline, tank battery, tank, or pit.

Field Inspection will initially be installed in Michigan and Utah as pilot states. Soon after that California will deploy Field Inspection as part of their RBDMS 3.0 (WellSTAR) upgrade. A number of other states are eager to follow as they see the value in an application that allows field inspectors to input data just once. “Field presence is the most important thing you have in a field inspection program. If the inspectors are in the office filling out forms it is limiting their field presence,” said Jarvis. “Even though things are done differently in different states, field inspectors around the country still face these same challenges and RBDMS Field Inspection will have a big impact on how they do their jobs.”

For more information about RBDMS Field Inspection contact GWPC.