The explosion and fire on the piper alpha platform, 6 july. 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. The headlines kept coming, as did the funerals and memorial services. The piper alpha offshore oil and gas platform was owned by occidental petroleum. Rae, business consultant and survivor of the piper alpha disaster that occurred on july 6, 1988. One of theworst accidents has happened was the piper alpha incident. First report on piper alpha disaster released upi archives. Piper alpha incident 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. 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. Piper alpha 25 years on have we learned the lessons. Tragically, the automatic fire drench system on piper alpha was in manual mode the night of the blast. Bibliography building process safety culture tool kit. We also use cookies to collect information about how you use hse. Importance learning from major incident piper alpha disaster.
Piper alpha was designed to produce and export oil. Preventing piper alpha and iso 3 nicholas and smith. For example, prior to the disaster, auditing on piper alpha often identified some of risks that contributed to the explosion but instead of the audit findings being analysed and evaluated two elements in the process outlined in the iso 3, they were ignored. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea operated by occidental petroleum caledonia limited. However, whereas the myriad lessons learned from this disaster are common knowledge among chemical and process engineers, the valuable safety lessons from this harrowing story are arguably not so obvious to laboratory chemists. Pdf this article compares two industrial disasters in the offshore oil industry, the explosion and fire on piper alpha off the coast of. It was a catastrophe that killed 167 men and left only 61 survivors, each of whom had to fight for their lives to escape the huge, labyrinthine structure and. 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. Different trends of impact were observed from the consequence and aftermath of the incidents.
Case study presentation on piper alpha and san juanico incident conference on chemical industrial disaster management cidm. Fire in the night relives the tragic events that occurred on the piper alpha rig on 6th july 1988. Piper alpha disaster on an oil and gas platform in the. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard alpha piper assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. It began production in 1976, but on july 6, 1988 it.
Spiral to disaster piper alpha is a training video that analyzes this industrial tragedy which could have been prevented or averted to improve safety programs. But on july 6, 1988, the entire structure became consumed by a devastating and deadly fire. The piper alpha disaster which killed 167 workers on 6 july 1988 off the coast of aberdeen is the worldsdeadliest ever oil rig accident. Pdf preventable disasters in the offshore oil industry. In the official investigation report of the piper alpha disaster written by lord cullen. Piper alpha incident operator and supervisor errors escalated a process safety incident into a disaster. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life it. The piper alpha disaster kindle edition by mcginty, stephen. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading fire in the night. Read chapter 2 the piper alpha and the deepwater horizon.
In 1976 the platform began producing oil then was later converted to add gas production to its capabilities. Download limit exceeded you have exceeded your daily download allowance. The piper alpha disaster shocked the industry and the general public. Piper alpha is an offshore oil and gas platform that suffered an explosion in july 1988, in one of the worst.
Piper alpha that killed 167 workers in the worlds deadliest offshore oil industry disaster. Case study presentation on piper al pha and san juanico incident conference on chemical industrial disaster management cidm. London the first report on the cause of piper alpha oil rig disaster that killed 167 men, released thursday, said it was may have followed an explosion in. The incident that changed the whole industry piper alphawas anorth sea oil platform operated by occidental petroleumwhich began production in 1976 as an oil platform which later was converted to gas production an explosion and the resulting fires destroyed the entire platform on 6 th of july 1988, killing 167 workers the total insured loss of the platform. The designs and operating procedures, which for so long had seemed. Pdf in 1998, the explosion of the piper alpha platform claimed 167 lives, making it the worlds worst offshore oil disaster. Landmark piper alpha cullen report now free to download. Footage of the explosion of the piper alpha platform in the north sea. Piper alpha platform, north sea offshore technology oil and gas. In the aftermath of the personal tragedies came the inevitable selfexamination and uncertainty. An explosion and resulting oil and gas fires destroyed piper alpha on 6 july 1988, killing 167. It began exporting oil from the piper oilield discovered. It began production in 1976, initially as an oilonly platform but later converted to add gas production.
Learning from the piper alpha accident semantic scholar. Lecture by brian appleton technical adviser to the enquiry on piper alpha accident. A whistleblower has warned that a system of safety representatives set up to underpin the integrity of oil and gas platforms in the north sea following the piper alpha explosion is being made a. The retrofitting went on in several phases, starting with separation of condensate and ending with production of exportquality gas. Alpha disaster in 1988 in which 167 offshore workers died. The occupational health management of police officers involved in the piper alpha incident is described with reference to the factors likely to cause either physical or psychological distress and the measures taken to overcome these. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life it had also produced gas from two wells. Pdf the british offshore oil industry after piper alpha. Outline about piper alpha platform the happening event timeline cause of the disaster effect of the disaster key failures improvement and prevention conclusion 2. It provides the basis of discussion, analysis and training in a variety of ohs areas, including risk assessment, permit to work, emergency procedures, safety design and more.
An explosion and resulting oil and gas fires destroyed piper alpha on 6 july 1988. Last month, a rededication ceremony and remembrance service marking the 25th anniversary of the piper alpha disaster was held in the newly restored memorial garden in aberdeens hazlehead park. As part of its macondo investigation, the csb held a public hearing in december 2010 on the international use of. Failure of process safety management on every level. Also, the probability of such an accident could be made arbitrarily small by controlling the level of detail in which the accident is described. Could people better trained in oil and gas safety procedures have prevented it, or stopped the. The controversy around it was heightened when a report. Conference on chemical industrial disaster management cidm. The case for safety the north sea piper alpha disaster.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Outline about piper alpha platform the happening event timeline cause of the disaster effect of the disaster key failures improvement and prevention conclusion 2 3. It utilizes a case study of the tragic event of the explosion and fire at the piper alpha oil platform in the north sea. The piper alpha a large fixed platform was located in the piper field in. Download adobe acrobat or click here to download the pdf file. Piper alpha was a large oil production platform in the north sea about 170 kilometers northeast of aberdeen. Highlights we analyzed financial impact of catastrophic incidents based on three case studies. Within seconds a major unstabilised crudeoil fire developed and all but the wellhead area and the lower parts of. The piper alpha incident is still regarded as the worst offshore oil disaster in the history of the uk.
Piper alpha was a large north sea oil platform that started production in 1976. It appears your web browser is not configured to display pdf files. The new engineer who must find a path to safety on a burning oil rig. The crew worked to resolve the issue before platform production was. 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. Constructed for oil collection by mcdermott engineering and operated by occidental group, piper alpha was located 120 miles northeast of aberdeen, scotland. What caused the giant piper alpha oil rig explosion. The requirement to export gas with the associated separation of condensate was an afterthought and involved extensive modification. For similar platforms and for a welldefined class of accidents, however, this study is the. But on july 6, 1988, the entire structure became consumed by a. 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. Furthermore, macondo raises regulatory concerns for the us just as the 1988 piper alpha disaster.
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