Lessons from the Line: What 90 Days of Red Zone Data Taught One Saudi Drilling Team
- Shoyab Ali
- Aug 27
- 7 min read
In the world of oil and gas drilling, “red zones” are more than just marked spaces on the ground — they are living, shifting boundaries where the risk of serious injury is highest. These high-risk areas are usually surrounded by heavy moving equipment, suspended loads, or active drill floors, which change constantly as operations evolve.
On a Saudi drilling site in early 2025, this reality became increasingly clear. The EHS team’s safety procedures, although thorough on paper, were outpaced in practice; dynamic hazards were outpacing traditional methods of risk management. A zone marked safe in the morning could become a danger area by lunch.
Recognizing this challenge, the drilling contractor partnered with viAct to deploy its AI-powered smart monitoring system for red zones to track and manage hazards in real time. Over 90 days, the team collected, analyzed, and acted on safety data — transforming how they managed workplace safety in the line of fire.
This case study shares the challenges they faced, the solutions applied, and the industry-wide lessons that emerged.
Challenges in the Saudi Drilling Site
Before implementing the red zones monitored by AI, the drilling team grappled with multiple safety challenges that made hazard management complex and time-sensitive. These challenges fell into the following three key areas-
Challenge 1 - Constantly Changing Hazard Areas
The most pressing issue was that high-risk areas on the site were never static.
Every movement of a crane, every shift in the drilling arm, and every relocation of heavy machinery created new hazards. The traditional process — marking zones manually with tape or barriers — could not keep up. By the time a physical marker was placed, the danger might have moved elsewhere.
During one rig maintenance cycle, the safety team recorded 7–9 zone shifts in a single 12-hour shift. Manual updates often lagged by 10–15 minutes, leaving workers unaware of the most current hazards.
📌 Quote from the site’s EHS Manager: “Our site was like a moving puzzle. Hazards weren’t static, so any delay in communication put people at risk. We needed a way to match the speed of change.”
The implication was clear: hazard communication had to be real-time, not reactive.
Challenge 2 - Permits Losing Relevance in a Matter of Hours
Alongside moving hazards, the site faced another problem — permit-to-work (PTW) documents quickly became outdated.
In the drilling environment, permits are issued for specific tasks, locations, and timeframes. But when red zones shifted during the day, the permit’s assumptions were no longer valid.
One example stood out during the baseline data collection period: A morning permit allowed maintenance near a mud pump area. By mid-afternoon, a crane operation required that same area to be part of a restricted zone. The original permit did not reflect the change, creating a dangerous gap between paper and reality.
Over the first two weeks, safety leads estimated that 20–25% of active permits were partially invalidated by operational changes before their scheduled expiration. This not only delayed work but also increased risk exposure.
Challenge 3 - Unauthorized Entries into Restricted Areas
The third major challenge was workers entering restricted zones without clearance.
Most of these breaches were not acts of negligence — they were mistakes. Workers sometimes misjudged where a boundary started, or didn’t realize a red zone had shifted into their work path. The baseline data showed 16 unauthorized entries in the first week alone. Nearly half occurred during night shifts, when visibility was lower and supervisory presence was reduced.
📌 Quote from a drilling shift supervisor: “Nobody walks into a danger zone because they want to — they do it because they think it’s safe when it’s not.”
The safety team needed a way to prevent such entries before they happened, rather than responding after the fact.
AI-Powered Red Zone Safety Measures That Transformed Site Operations
To tackle the challenges of constantly shifting hazards, outdated permits, and accidental zone breaches, the drilling team introduced AI-powered rig floor danger zone tracking system by viAct. The technology was designed not only to monitor, but also to adapt instantly, ensuring that safety controls kept pace with operational changes.
AI-Based Site Intervention 1 - Adapt in Real Time
Using a network of existing CCTVs and the EHS analytics, the system continuously tracked moving hazards — from swinging crane loads to rotating drill arms. Whenever the red zone AI detected a change in the risk profile, it automatically updated the zone boundaries.
These updates were instantly visible on site dashboards, worker wearables, and a central command center. If a crane’s swing radius extended into a walkway, the system redrew the virtual boundary within seconds, not minutes.
AI-Based Site Intervention 2 - Connecting Hazard Detection
A critical part of the solution was integrating hazard detection with the site’s digital PTW system. When the AI redefined a zone boundary, it automatically checked which active permits were affected. If a permit was no longer valid for its location or timing, the system updated it and sent alerts to both the permit holder and the issuing authority.
This closed the dangerous gap between evolving site conditions and static documentation. The average permit update delay dropped from 18 minutes to just 2 minutes.
AI-Based Site Intervention 3 - Stopping the Step-In Before It Happens
To address unauthorized entries, video analytics transformed red zone monitoring across all access points and movement paths leading to restricted areas. If someone approached a high-risk zone without clearance, the system triggered an instant alert — both to the worker via their mobile devices and smart wearables and to nearby supervisors.
One recorded example: a subcontractor approached the drill floor during a restricted operation. The system detected the approach and sent an alert. The worker stopped within 10 seconds, avoiding a potential incident.
What the Numbers Say After 90 Days
After 90 days, the drilling site had hard evidence of workplace safety improvement in the red zones.
Dynamic Zone Management:
Permit Accuracy:
Unauthorized Entries:
The 90 Day Snapshot
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Safety Insights the Whole Industry Can Use
The 90-day intelligent red zone safety software deployment went beyond improving safety — it uncovered operational truths that apply to any drilling environment where hazards shift constantly.
Treat red zones as living systems, not painted lines. Static markings can’t keep up with a dynamic worksite. Red zones should evolve in real-time with task changes, equipment movement, and environmental conditions.
Integrate permit control with hazard intelligence. A permit is only as safe as its relevance to current site risks. Linking permit systems with live hazard data ensures approvals never ignore a changing danger profile.
Prevent, don’t just prosecute, unauthorized entries. Most intrusions are avoidable with risk monitoring facilitating early detection through pre-emptive alerts — stopping the breach before it becomes an incident.
Use short-term data to unlock long-term safety trends. Micro-analysis of 24–72 hour patterns can uncover recurring risks — like the spike in boundary breaches during shift changes — enabling targeted awareness campaigns and staffing adjustments.
Pair advanced tech with equally advanced workforce training. AI alerts only reach their full potential when crews understand the “why” behind them. Context empowers quicker responses and safer decision-making in the heat of operations.
Conclusion — Beyond Incident Reduction, Towards Predictive Safety
For the Saudi drilling team, the biggest gain from 90 days of AI-based red zone management wasn’t just the dramatic drop in unauthorized entries or faster permit updates. It was the ability to predict risk before it became reality.
The site now uses its data to schedule high-risk activities at safer times, allocate more supervision during known peak hazard periods, and continually refine its safety protocols.
While the context here is oil and gas drilling, the lessons — dynamic hazard awareness, real-time permit linkage, proactive access control, and data-driven safety culture — apply across other high-risk sectors.
In an industry where seconds can mean the difference between a near-miss and a serious incident, real-time intelligence and continuous learning are no longer optional — they are the future of safety.
Quick FAQs
1. What exactly is an AI-powered smart system for red zones?
It’s a safety technology that uses cameras, sensors, and AI analytics to track high-risk areas on a drilling site in real time. Instead of relying on static markings or manual updates, it automatically detects changes in hazard locations — such as moving cranes or rotating drill arms — and updates safety boundaries instantly.
2. How does AI ensure zero blind spots in red zones?
AI-powered software for Red Zone tracking eliminates blind spots through a structured approach:
360° Visual Coverage – Cameras are strategically placed to cover every inch of critical zones, both static and dynamic.
AI-Driven Detection – Computer vision continuously scans for workers, machinery, and movement patterns to identify risk instantly.
Instant Alerts – Any breach triggers immediate notifications to EHS teams via dashboards, alarms, and mobile devices.
Data-Backed Insights – All incidents and near-misses are logged for analysis, helping teams refine safety measures and prevent repeat hazards.
This setup means no area is left unmonitored, no hazard goes unnoticed, and your team gets actionable alerts before risks turn into incidents.
3. How does viAct deploy its AI Red Zone Monitoring on drilling sites?
The following steps are all required to successfully integrate viAct AI monitoring software into the existing CCTVs and IP cameras on site.
Assess & Map – Identify red zones & hazards on site.
Install & Calibrate – Set up or adjust cameras for full coverage.
Customize AI – Train it for your equipment & workflows.
Monitor Live – Get instant alerts on breaches.
4. Is the AI system for red zone difficult for crews to adapt to?
No, the system does not require any prior technical expertise to be operated. Workers need to understand why alerts happen and how to respond. With clear onboarding and awareness sessions, crews typically adapt quickly and begin to trust the technology as a real-time safety partner.
5. Does viAct AI solution work outside oil and gas sector?
Yes. The same principles of dynamic hazard detection, permit integration, and unauthorized entry prevention are available in 100+ AI module library that apply to any high-risk, fast-changing environment, such as construction, mining, shipyards, and heavy manufacturing.
Facing the same red zone challenges or more as Saudi drill sites?
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