Piper Alpha Disaster Essay Example for Free

Piper Alpha Disaster Essay Followed by steps and improvement which is done after the incident to prevent such disaster to happen again. The case study is concluded with the safety precautions should be installed and practised in the platform. 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 a  sea  oil production platform  operated by  Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. [1]  The platform began production in 1976,[2]first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production. An explosion and resulting fire destroyed it on 6 July 1988, this catastrophic event killed in total of 167 men, [3] with only 61 survivors. The death toll includes two crewmen of a rescue vessel who tried to save the victims of the fire. [4] Total insured loss was about ? 1. 7 billion (US$3. 4 billion). The moment of the disaster the platform was accounted for nearly ten percent of  oil  and gas production, and was the worst offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost and industry impact. [5] Some evidence says the new gas pipeline was built in the weeks before the 6 July explosion, and while this work disrupted the normal routine, the platform was operating as normal. The discovery of a small gas leak is usual and not a concern at the platform at that time due to carelessness the platform was completely destroyed and caused life of 167 en on the platform, and many of those involved died, analysis of events began. [6] 2. 1 Management and OperationsAn  oil and gas platform is a large structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process  oil  and  natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing. Mostly the platform has facilities to house the workforce crew as well. Depending on the circumstances, the p latform may be  fixed  to the ocean floor, may consist of an  artificial island, or may  float. 2. 1. Management and Structures Piper Alpha receives and sends to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms, Tartan and Claymore. These how the incident took place[1]  : -As the Piper Alpha platform was at the hub of a network of platforms interconnected by oil and gas pipelines. The leak of the gas lead to the initial explosion and ruptured oil lines on Piper Alpha. Managers on other platforms was aware of a problem on Piper Alpha but not its severity, assumed that they would be instructed to shut down their operations, if necessary. However, the explosion interrupted communications from Piper Alpha for minimum of (30 to 60 minutes intervals) passed before these other platforms were closed. As series of explosions occurred as the fires on the platform weakened natural gas riser pipelines on Piper Alpha the intensity of the fires prevented rescue efforts, either by helicopter or by ship which led to 165 workers and 2 rescue personnel killed. The RV job was completed by the end of the shift. The permit to work (PTW) system was often not implemented as according to, for example: Omissions of signatures and gas test results were common. Operations representatives regularly did not inspect the jobsite before suspending the permit at the end of the shift, or closing the permit indicating the work had been completed. The lead safety operator task is to monitor the PTW system process regularly there was no problem indicated, the mishap and the lack of information and work ethics. The management assumed the system working at full efficiency and didn’t check it independently. These led to miscommunication and lack of knowledge and information when the fire began. 4. 1. 2Design Factor -The diesel powered water pumps were set to manual mode, therefore incase of fire the personnel has to reach the pump to start it though the 1983 fire audit report has recommended this practice is discontinued. The sprinkler head were known to be plugged and corroded. -The structural steel on the platform was not alloyed to be fireproof or withstand high intensity of fire. 4. 1. 3Roots Factor The root of the cause was that most of the personnel who had the authority to order evacuation were killed when first explosion destroyed the control room. This was due to the platform design defect, including the absence of blast walls. Another contributing factor was the nearby connected platforms Tartan and Claymore continued to pump gas and oil to  Piper Alpha  until its pipeline ruptured in the heat in the second explosion. Their operations crews did not shut off the production due to lack of training and communication with the management, even though they could see that  Piper Alpha  was on fire. [7]   4. 1. 3. The wrong management decision. The lack of information and adequacy of checking the PTW system process led to wrong decisions and lack of communication during the leak.