July 24, 2026
The latest three-year comparison of the British Drilling Association’s (BDA) audit programme presents an encouraging picture of continued industry engagement, high achievement rates and measurable progress across several recurring areas of non-conformance.
More than 700 audits were completed across the 2024, 2025 and 2026 reporting periods, which each cover July to June. Participation reached a new high in 2025 and remained substantial during 2026, with more than 200 audits completed during the year.
The BDA is delighted with the level of engagement and continues to believe that the audit programme is delivering real value for its membership and the wider land drilling industry.
Every audit represents an individual or drilling crew willing to have their competence, working practices and equipment independently assessed. It also represents an employer prepared to place its standards under scrutiny.
Most importantly, this level of participation demonstrates that the industry continues to treat competence as something that must be maintained and evidenced, rather than simply assumed.
Consistently High Achievement
The results themselves are equally encouraging. Across the three reporting periods, almost nine out of every ten completed audits achieved the required standard. The achievement rate rose above 91% during 2026, while the number of audits receiving a major non-conformance fell for the third consecutive year.
Of the audits that did not achieve the required standard between July 2025 and June 2026, only 11 were unsuccessful because of safety-critical non-conformances.
While the consistently high achievement rate is welcome, it is important to stress that the purpose of the audit programme is not simply to produce a high pass rate.
An audit with no findings would not necessarily provide evidence of a perfect industry. It could instead indicate an audit process that was not looking closely enough.
Non-conformances provide valuable information because they turn individual site observations into wider industry intelligence. They show the BDA, employers and drilling crews where guidance is being understood, where working practices are improving and where further training or clearer communication may be needed.
Measurable Improvements
The comparison between the 2024 and 2025 reporting periods is particularly positive, with the overall number of recorded non-conformances falling by approximately one third, despite the monthly audit non-conformance dashboard covering a greater number of audits.
Improvements were recorded across both health and safety and technical categories, including machine set-up, guarding, sample handling and the availability of essential measuring equipment.
The 2026 data continue this encouraging direction too. Recurring issues involving the recording of Standard Penetration Test rod straightness, the protection of samples, coreliner sealing and access to working dip-meters all reduced during the reporting period.
Findings relating to hot surfaces, guard gaps and machine support also moved in the right direction. In several cases, issues identified by auditors were corrected immediately during the audit itself.
This demonstrates one of the practical benefits of the programme. The audit does not simply produce a report after the event. It can also initiate constructive conversations and encourage immediate improvements while equipment and working practices are being assessed.
Priorities
There are, of course, areas that continue to require attention. Trip Hammer configuration and sample labelling remain among the more frequently identified technical findings.
This does not undermine the success of the programme. Instead, it provides the BDA, employers and drilling crews with clear priorities for further improvement, communication and training.
The purpose of the BDA audit has never been to catch people out or create a league table of participating companies. The programme exists to provide an independent check of competence, equipment and working practices, encourage better conversations on site and identify small weaknesses before they develop into larger problems.
The latest results show strong participation, consistently high achievement rates and fewer recurring findings, which means the audit programme is doing just what it was designed to do.
The BDA encourages all members, and the wider land drilling industry, to continue engaging with the audit process and help ensure that progress in compliance and competence is maintained and improved.
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