Since drilling began in the north sea in the 1970s there have been 300 deaths on britains 123 oil installations, often in. On 6 july 1988, an explosion and fire ripped through the piper alpha oil platform located in. Pdf preventable disasters in the offshore oil industry. Flixborough petrochemical plant, 1974 gordon cooke. Thats why marking the 25th anniversary of the piper alpha disaster is important. And then subsequently oilc merged with rmt in may 2008, and so came under. It was last inspected two weeks ago but last week there was a small fire on the rig. It appears your web browser is not configured to display pdf files. Piper alpha disaster anniversary of tragedy in the north sea, john konrad, 2011 in the evening of 6th july 1988, a series of catastrophic explosion occurred on piper alpha offshore platform. This film focuses on one crucial hour in the disaster when lives could have been saved. The operating companies cite the o5 billion targeted for improvements in safety since piper alpha for example, brandie, 19945, and the apparent success of the post piper alpha safety committee. Preventable disasters in the offshore oil industry. Piper alpha platform, north sea offshore technology oil and gas. The author headed the public inquiry into this disaster.
Piper alpha was a hub or collection platform not only did it receive oil and gas from its own risers. The public inquiry into the piper alpha disaster journal. On the night of july 6th 1988, the piper alpha oil rig was destroyed by fire and explosion. Piper alpha is an offshore oil and gas platform that suffered an explosion in july 1988, in one of the worst oil disasters in the history of the uk. First, the public inquiry has just begun and it is likely to continue for about 6 to 9 months or longer. Piper alpha disaster 6th july 1988 paper work filed separately lack of communication on piper alpha they filed paperwork in by compartments. It is, however, still a live and emotional issue for several reasons. Piper alpha re ceived and sent to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms.
The piper alpha disaster, also known as the worst offshore disaster to happen in history occurred 30 years ago in 1988. 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. This year 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of alpha piper disaster in the north sea, which is in terms of loss of life, the worst disaster in the history of. Download adobe acrobat or click here to download the pdf file. As a result he recommends that the safety regulations with. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard piper alpha assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. Pipe lift raft on its aunching platform efore h, init. Disaster and emergency management systems viii the planning sequence 75 step 1 identification of the planning authority 75 step 2 establishing a planning framework 75 step 3 identify the nature of the tasks 76 step 4 appreciation and outline plan 76 step 5 circulation of and consultation on the first draft plan 77 step 6 identification of problems and critical areas 77. 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. Pdf the british offshore oil industry after piper alpha. It began production in 1976, but on july 6, 1988 it was the site of the worlds. Piper alpha 25 years on have we learned the lessons. 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. Are the carefully crafted systems and procedures in your operations manual.
The investigation into the piper alpha disaster has. Offshore disaster on a fixed installation the piper. The piper alpha oil rig disaster occurred about 9 months prior to the initial preparation of this chapter. Copyright jim thomson 20 safety in engineering ltd piper. It began production in 1976, initially as an oilonly platform but later converted to add gas production. In other words, a truly excellent example of a root cause analysis.
Pdf document ccps center for chemical process safety. The fire was visible seventy miles away as a distant, flickering. 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. 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. On one side are you looking for a piece of excellent craftsmanship the analysis, but at the same time it is the analysis of an accident involving many deaths. On july 6, 1988, the piper alpha oil platform experienced a series of 10 catastrophic explosions and fires. Piper alpha that killed 167 workers in the worlds deadliest offshore oil. Piper alpha 1988 piper alpha 1988 introduction piper. Piper alpha atform from the,xlpha forll the all pi. Piper alpha was a large north sea oil platform that started production in 1976. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea operated by occidental petroleum caledonia limited. Piper alpha disaster prompted drastically improved safety.
Piper alpha the house of lords landmark decision insight 167, 2002 01 aug 2002. An explosion and resulting oil and gas fires destroyed piper alpha on 6 july 1988, killing 167 men. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life it had also produced gas from two wells. 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. 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. The piper alpha incident is still regarded as the worst offshore oil disaster in the history of the uk. It was connected by an oil pipeline to flotta and by gas pipelines to two other installations. For open structures, the merge experiments series reported by merx et al 15,16. Alpha disaster in 1988 in which 167 offshore workers died. Retro report july 1988 how we covered there is no doubt that the uk oil and gas sector learnt a tremendous amount from the piper alpha disaster in 1988.
The crew worked to resolve the issue before platform production was affected. It accounted for around 10 percent of the total oil production at the time. Piper alpha the house of lords landmark decision gard. Piper alpha was a large fixed structure platform located about 120 miles north east of aberdeen. Public inquiry into the piper alpha disaster the lord cullen report. The disaster began with poor routine maintenance procedure. Piper alpha 30 years since the worlds deadliest offsho.
Piper alpha is an offshore oil and gas platform that suffered an. Piper disaster the hon lord cullen department of energy. 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. The public inquiry into the piper alpha disaster lord w. So other platforms continued production and pumping of gas for sometime which supplied additional fuel to the fire at piper. Download limit exceeded you have exceeded your daily download allowance. Bibliography building process safety culture tool kit. Yet, i share his outlook that the legacy of the piper alpha disaster is the positive. The piper alpha platform is the largest and oldest platform in the north sea oilfield. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Piper alpha disaster anniversary of tragedy in the north sea. The sixtyone survivors of the piper alpha accident survived because they disobeyed the standing instructions. The disaster caused the death of 165 men out of 226 on board. Piper alpha re ceived and sent to the shore the oil pdf to doc verypdf2word and gas production of a group of platforms.
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