For instance, an action as simple as misplacing a permittowork certificate was just one of the root causes of the piper alpha incident in the north sea. The controversy around it was heightened when a report. Piper alpha timeline piper alpha was a large offshore rig based 100km off the coast of aberdeen. As the piper alpha platform was at the hub of a network. To perform an analysis of accidents collected in the woad database2 and investigate. Angus kennedy, an engineer on the supply ship the performer, said the first message they received indicated a small but manageable fire. Piper alpha disaster on an oil and gas platform in the north sea, july 1988 background what happened a series of explosions and an oil fed fire on the piper alpha oil and gas platform in the north sea on 6th july 1988, 120 miles northeast of aberdeen, killed 167 men. The rig produced oil, gas and condensate primarily propane and was linked to two other drilling platforms via large undersea pipelines. Julian turner charts the safety improvements that have taken place in the 25 years since the worst accident in the history of the oil and gas industry.
In its early life it had also produced gas from two wells. In 1988, as tharos, the vessel operated as a large firefighting, construction, diving support and accommodation vessel equipped with a helicopter and a hospital ship with 22 beds, that rescued survivors from the piper alpha oil platform disaster. Piper alpha incident tweet during the platform fire in 1988, virtually nothing went right, which allows us to draw lessons from a long list of events leading to the hazard. The piper alpha platform is the largest and oldest platform in the north sea oilfield. Piper alpha is an offshore oil and gas platform that suffered an explosion.
At the time of the piper alpha incident the workforce lived in a world where cuttingedge technology was a fax machine, so the first that those working offshore knew of the incident was through newspapers. Pdf this article compares two industrial disasters in the offshore oil industry, the explosion and fire on piper alpha off the coast of scotland in. Download limit exceeded you have exceeded your daily download allowance. This is piper alpha spiral to disaster bbc by green world group on vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them. Piper alpha disaster on an oil and gas platform in the. This program utilizes a case study of the explosion and fire at the piper alpha oil platform in the north sea which resulted in the loss of 167 lives. The government inquiry into piper alpha, headed by lord cullen, was given two tasks, first to determine the cause of the disaster and, secondly, to recommend how similar disasters could be prevented. On july 6, 1988, in the piper oilfield, north sea, the worlds deadliest offshore oil industry disaster took place. Jul 15, 20 at the time of the piper alpha incident the workforce lived in a world where cuttingedge technology was a fax machine, so the first that those working offshore knew of the incident was through newspapers.
An explosion and the resulting oil and gas fires destroyed it on 6 july 1988, killing 167 men, with only 61 survivors. The piper alpha disaster which killed 167 workers on 6 july 1988 off the coast of aberdeen is the worldsdeadliest ever oil rig accident. Piper alpha rewrites the rules on offshore safety new scientist. There are other parallels that can be drawn from piper alpha, too, in management, cultural and technical failures that contributed to the loss of the oil rig and 167 lives. The specific series of events that turned a simple process safety incident into a disaster began with a decision to change the mode of production on the platform. Since drilling began in the north sea in the 1970s there have been 300 deaths on britains 123 oil installations, often in accidents caused by bad weather. Are acrolein and phosgene covered under psm and rmp, and what are the respective threshold quantities. Management and structures piper alpha receives and sends to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms, tartan and claymore. Process safety training american society of safety.
Piper alpha presentation safety emergency incident. The piper alpha incident is still regarded as the worst offshore oil disaster in the history of the uk. The piper alpha disaster in 1988 shocked the world, and changed offshore safety management and legislation in the north sea beyond recognition. Failure of process safety management on every level. Piper alpha rewrites the rules on offshore safety new. It appears your web browser is not configured to display pdf files. Angus kennedy, an engineer on the supply ship the performer, said the first message they received indicated a small but manageable fire at least 20 minutes before the mayday call. Sir brian appleton acted as a technical adviser during lord cullens inquiry into the piper alpha disaster.
At about 10 pm, a simple miscommunication and safety lapse involving one of the platforms two condensate pumps caused a chain reaction, culminating in a chain reaction of explosions that completely destroyed the entire piper alpha oil rig. Piper alpha disaster news, views, gossip, pictures, video. An explosion on the piper alpha platform occurred in july 1988. Piper alpha presentation free download as powerpoint presentation. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea approximately 120 miles 190 km northeast of aberdeen, scotland, that was operated by occidental petroleum caledonia limited. So other platforms continued production and pumping of gas for sometime which supplied additional fuel to the fire at piper.
The crew worked to resolve the issue before platform production was affected. Piper alpha 25 years on have we learned the lessons. Piper alpha was a large production platform that started production in 1976. On the contrary, when piper alpha, the giant platform operated by occidental petroleum, sprung to life in 1976, it was hailed as the latest chapter in a burgeoning success story. An explosion and resulting fire destroyed it on 6 jul 1988, killing 168 men, 3 with only 61 survivors. A disaster which could have been, if not totally adverted, dramatically changed in course without the horrible loss of human life. The accident killed 165 out of 226 crew members and two crew members from the standby vessel sandhaven. Piper alpha the house of lords landmark decision gard. It began production in 1976, 2 initially as an oilonly platform but later converted to add gas production. Piper alpha presentation safety emergency incident free. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea operated by occidental petroleum caledonia limited. Lord cullens report was published on 12th november 1990. In the following sections we will examine the causes of the piper alpha oil rig explosion and the subsequent inquiry into the incident that claimed 167 crew members lives.
Jul 04, 20 e ven 25 years on, charles haffeys most powerful memory of the piper alpha disaster was the overwhelming, deafening noise. Part of the problem of trying to examine this event is its complexity. Piper alpha re ceived and sent to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms. About piper alpha placed at north sea, the platform began production in 1976, first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas oil production started in 1976 with about 250,000 barrels 40,000 m3 of oil per day increasing to 300,000 barrels 48,000 m3 a gas recovery m. This is the conclusion of the cullen report into the explosion on the oil rig piper alpha that killed 167 men. Why are the threshold quantities typically lower for psm regulated chemicals than rmp chemicals. The headlines kept coming, as did the funerals and memorial services. Pdf preventable disasters in the offshore oil industry.
In 1978 piper alpha was modified to process and export the natural gas to comply with uk gas conservation requirements 5 6. Jul 04, 20 the piper alpha disaster which killed 167 workers on 6 july 1988 off the coast of aberdeen is the worldsdeadliest ever oil rig accident. In 1988, piper alpha endured a gas leak with the subsequent fire and explosion reducing her to a wreck, ending up on the bottom of the north sea. Piper alpha platform, north sea offshore technology oil. Piper alpha was a north sea oil production platform operated by occidental petroleum caledonia ltd. Had the condensate injection pump on piper alpha been removed from service by physically locking its switches, with an attached tag, the decision to start would nit have been made. It was last inspected two weeks ago but last week there was a small fire on the rig. Both oil and gas was pumped from the two other platforms to piper alpha and subsequently pumped to. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard alpha piper assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. About piper alpha placed at north sea, the platform began production in 1976, first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas oil production started in 1976 with about 250,000 barrels 40,000 m3 of oil per day increasing to 300,000 barrels 48,000 m3 a gas recovery module. As the piper alpha platform was at the hub of a network of platforms interconnected by oil and gas pipelines.
E ven 25 years on, charles haffeys most powerful memory of the piper alpha disaster was the overwhelming, deafening noise. Piper alpha atform from the,xlpha forll the all pi. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life it had also produced gas from two wells. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard piper alpha assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. Professionalismpiper alpha oil rig disaster wikibooks. It began production in 1976, but on july 6, 1988 it. British sector north sea oil field 120 miles aberdeen scotland 4 5. Importance learning from major incident piper alpha disaster. The vessel carried out firefighting on the night of the disaster and supported the fire fighting and well kill operations. Lecture by brian appleton technical adviser to the enquiry on piper alpha accident. Pipe lift raft on its aunching platform efore h, init.
The vast inferno created by simultaneous eruptions from ruptured gas and. Bibliography building process safety culture tool kit. About piper alpha 35 in 1976 platform started production of oil. Learning from the piper alpha accident the offshore platform piper alpha, which was lo cated in the british sector of the north sea oil field and operated by occidental petroleum, was engulfed in a catastrophic fire on july 6, 1988. Also, the probability of such an accident could be made arbitrarily small by controlling the level of detail in which the accident is described. Sir brian appletons lecture broadcast by the bbc provides an incredibly useful insight into the piper alpha disaster and the subsequent enquiry. Just a sample of presentation format for piper alpha disaster cause which may help u in preparation for something like this in the future. May 25, 2014 importance learning from major incident piper alpha disaster 1 comment i t is vital that lessons are learned from all major incidents, as management, cultural and technical failure i. Aug 20, 20 the piper alpha disaster in 1988 shocked the world, and changed offshore safety management and legislation in the north sea beyond recognition. For similar platforms and for a welldefined class of accidents, however, this study is the. Download adobe acrobat or click here to download the pdf file.
May 06, 20 july 6, 1988, piper oilfield, north sea. The piper alpha disaster of 6th july 1988 resulted in the deaths of 167 men, injuries to 62 survivors and the total destruction of the oil platform by a series of explosions and fires. Failure of process safety management failure of process safety management on every level. A system must be developed to promptly address, resolve and document the incident report findings, recommendations and corrective actions. Piper alpha survivors recall disaster 25 years on business. Piper alpha, for engineers, and even electricians, remains the example held up when there is an inadequate control design. Piper alpha was a large north sea oil platform that started production in 1976. The death toll includes two crewmen of a rescue vessel. Record breaking space jump free fall faster than speed of sound red bull stratos. Ukooa united kingdom offshore operators association. Piper alpha disaster joe meanen, who jumped into the sea from the burning platform, with gary gallagher, who survived a 32ft fall from a hotel roof, to make workplaces safer. Piper alpha disaster news, views, gossip, pictures. Sixteen of the 34 piper alpha survivors who gave evidence at the inquiry said they experienced the first blast before 10pm. The platform began production in 1976, first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production.
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