Washington — Offshore drilling rig operators in the Gulf of Mexico reported 1,129 blowout preventer equipment component failures in 2017, according to the latest annual report from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s SafeOCS reporting system.

Manufacturers can improve workplace safety and minimize unplanned downtime if they know how sudden equipment failures occur and what to do about them. 

A computerized monitoring system and method for detecting electrical equipment failure. The system includes a sensor that detects a sound level representative of ultrasonic emissions radiating from electrical equipment to be monitored. A computer system in communication with the sensor is programmed to determine whether the electrical equipment is experiencing one or more of arcing, tracking, or corona based on the sound level detected by the sensor. In some embodiments, the computer system continuously monitors for these conditions based on the sound level detected by the sensor.