The 1988 piper alpha disaster remains one of the worst. 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 preventable disasters in the offshore oil industry. Download limit exceeded you have exceeded your daily download allowance. Thirty years ago, i was a young claims superintendent with less than three years at storebrands offshore claims department. Piper alpha was a large north sea oil platform that started production in 1976.
Abstract the piper alpha disaster remains the most significant event in the history of the. Piper alpha 30 years since the worlds deadliest offsho. About piper alpha 35 in 1976 platform started production of oil. After 180 days of proceedings, it released its report public inquiry into the piper alpha disaster short. Piper alpha the tragic event of piper alpha occurred when this massive oil platform in the north sea succumbed to explosion and fire, resulting in the loss of 167 lives. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life it had also produced gas from two wells.
On july 6, 1988, the piper alpha oil platform experienced a series of 10 catastrophic explosions and fires. So other platforms continued production and pumping of gas for sometime which supplied additional fuel to the fire at piper. The main elements presented to the students in the class room follow. A search was made through the documents to determine whether. Most of the victims suffocated in toxic fumes which developed after a gas leak set off the blasts and sparked the fire. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea operated by occidental petroleum caledonia limited. May 06, 20 july 6, 1988, piper oilfield, north sea.
As shifts changed and the night crew aboard alpha piper assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. The evolution of concurrent and inherently safe design article pdf available in journal of loss prevention in the process industries 236. This is one of the 10 dvds in the acclaimed bbc series now available in a totally. The british response the results of the official investigation by lord cullen, including the final recommendations of his investigation. The piper alpha was not only a disaster but also an opportunity to change things and we are living, i would hope, with the benefits of that change.
Jul 04, 20 e ven 25 years on, charles haffeys most powerful memory of the piper alpha disaster was the overwhelming, deafening noise. The stateoftheart of knowledge at time of piper alpha in a. 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. The stateoftheart of knowledge at time of piper alpha in a explosion loading. Pipe lift raft on its aunching platform efore h, init. Sir brian appleton acted as a technical adviser during lord cullens inquiry into the piper alpha disaster. Aberdeen where to pay your respects to the piper alpha victims. Sea piper alpha disaster nasa safety center, system failure case study, may. It was connected by an oil pipeline to flotta and by gas pipelines to two other installations. May 25, 2014 the piper alpha disaster on the morning 6 th july 1988, as part of a maintenance program, a gas pump pressure safety valve was removed from the processing area and, as the work could not be completed that day, a blanking plat was fitted over the end of pipe where the pump had been removed. Sir brian appletons lecture broadcast by the bbc provides an incredibly useful insight into the piper alpha disaster and the subsequent enquiry. Piper alpha platform, north sea offshore technology oil. This section is in list format, but may read better as prose.
Build a learning and teaching system and cast the net wide deepwater horizon 5. 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. The offshore industry response an indepth analysis at the current system of. An explosion and the resulting oil and gas fires destroyed it on 6 july 1988, killing 167 men, with only 61 survivors. Jul 04, 20 on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the piper alpha disaster, a north sea oil and gas insider claims safety measures are made a mockery by management bullying. Jun 23, 2010 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. 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. It is 25 years since tragedy struck in the north sea. The change in safety management for offshore oil and gas. The loss of the piper alpha platform in 1988 is the case study used in the present study. At the time of the disaster, piper was one of the heaviest platforms along with. The conference will be addressed by lord cullen, who chaired the month public enquiry that resulted in over 100 safety recommendations which made history for health and safety in the north sea.
Piper alpha re ceived and sent to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms. 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 was an oil production platform in the north sea operated by. Using concept maps to assess learning of safety case studies. This is the conclusion of the cullen report into the explosion on the oil rig piper alpha that killed 167 men. This article compares two industrial disasters in the offshore oil industry, the explosion and fire on piper alpha off the coast of scotland in 1988, the worlds worst offshore disaster, and the. May 10, 2014 bbc nine oclock news piper alpha 7th july 1988 part one duration. It began production in 1976, but on july 6, 1988 it was the site of the worlds. This paper examines the following aspects of offshore safety in oil and gas production systems before and after the piper alpha disaster. Remembering the piper alpha disaster berghahn journals.
Importance learning from major incident piper alpha disaster. Jul 06, 2018 undoubtedly the piper alpha disaster drove changes that helped make uk oil and gas the leader it is today, creating a modern, hitech sector with one of the best safety records in the world. The stateoftheart of knowledge at time of piper alpha in. The accident killed 165 out of 226 crew members and two crew from the standby vessel sandhaven. Occidental piper alpha s operator, which was found guilty of having inadequate maintenance and safety procedures the enquiry made 106 recommendations for changes to north sea safety procedures. On july 6, 1988, in the piper oilfield, north sea, the worlds deadliest offshore oil industry disaster took place.
Piper alpha is an offshore oil and gas platform that suffered an explosion in july 1988, which is still regarded as the worst offshore oil disaster in the history of the uk. The vast inferno created by simultaneous eruptions from ruptured gas and. The piper alpha disaster, also known as the worst offshore disaster to happen in history occurred 30 years ago in 1988. Piper alpha atform from the,xlpha forll the all pi. Buildin process safety to policies, systems, procedures and standards texas city 4. Learning from the piper alpha accident semantic scholar. Greatly since the piper alpha disaster but largescale tests in a mock up offshore module revealed. Piper alpha survivors recall disaster 25 years on business. While this 5 summary has been condensed and paraphrased, it is believed to been consistent with the facts and conclusions outlined in the cullen report. Pats testimony documents the effects of oil life on one scottish woman. In 1978 piper alpha was modified to process and export the natural gas to comply with uk gas conservation requirements 5 6. 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. Professionalismpiper alpha oil rig disaster wikibooks. Use quantitative risk assessment to make better, informed decisions piper alpha 2.
Piper alpha re ceived and sent to the shore the oil pdf to doc verypdf2word and gas. Survivors of the piper alpha oil platform disaster. Piper alpha disaster news, views, gossip, pictures, video. Sweeping changes needed in the way that safety in the offshore industry is assessed. Alpha disaster in 1988 in which 167 offshore workers died. Lecture by brian appleton technical adviser to the enquiry on piper alpha accident. The piper alpha disaster assignment example topics and well.
It concluded that the initial condensate leak was the result of maintenance work being carried out simultaneously on a pump and related safety valve. Piper alpha disaster pdf piper alpha was a large pdf to doc mac freeware north sea oil platform that started production in 1976. The platform began production in 1976, first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production. Pdf in 1998, the explosion of the piper alpha platform claimed 167 lives, making. Cpuc safety en banc on safety management systems 5. In november 1990 lord cullens report into the disaster severely criticised safety procedures on the rig owned by occidental. One hundred and sixty seven people died in the piper alpha fire on 6 july 1988, making it the worlds worst offshore oil disaster.
Introductionthis is a case study about the piper alpha disaster, on the management operations and structures, the objective of the management, the industrial process of the platform, the causes of the accident together with the consequences of the accident and case study on the improvement and the prevention of such disaster again. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea approximately 120 miles 190 km. Piper alpha disaster on an oil and gas platform in the. The north seas piper oil field was discovered in 1973. Piper alpha rewrites the rules on offshore safety new scientist. Like many other offshore platforms, piper alpha had an. Piper alpha was a north sea oil production platform operated by occidental petroleum caledonialtd. British sector north sea oil field 120 miles aberdeen scotland 4 5. Piper alpha that killed 167 workers in the worlds deadliest offshore oil industry disaster. As details of the causes of the disaster emerged, every offshore operator. Regulationlegislation researchrisk modelling general safety trends. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard piper alpha assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. Public inquiry into the piper alpha disaster the lord cullen report. The crew worked to resolve the issue before platform production was affected.
Piper alpha 25 years on have we learned the lessons. The accident that occurred on board the offshore platform piper alpha in july 1988 killed 167 people and cost billions. Jul 15, 20 twentyfive years ago the piper alpha disaster changed the oil and gas landscape but have the safety lessons been learnt. The disaster and beyond what went wrong an overview of the events which led to the piper alpha disaster.
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