Piper alpha rewrites the rules on offshore safety new. Download adobe acrobat or click here to download the pdf file. Home year one case studies piper alpha accident tuesday, october, 2015 piper alpha accident the piper alpha was a north sea oil production platform operated by occidental petroleum caledonia ltd. Alpha disaster in 1988 in which 167 offshore workers died. Piper alpha was a large offshore rig based 100km off the coast of aberdeen. Also, the probability of such an accident could be made arbitrarily small by controlling the level of detail in which the accident is described. 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. Piper alpha rewrites the rules on offshore safety new scientist. Root cause analysis ype wijnia 27 february 2015 in a study of the history of asset management just someone1 pointed me on the importance of the accident on the piper alpha for the development of asset management.
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 was a large oil production platform in the north sea about 170 kilometers northeast of aberdeen. An explosion on the piper alpha platform occurred in july 1988. At the time of the disaster, piper was one of the heaviest platforms along with magnus and brae b. On july 6, 1988, in the piper oilfield, north sea, the worlds deadliest offshore oil industry disaster took place. It began exporting oil from the piper oilield discovered. Reading his statement on the piper alpha disaster and conditions today should strike a chord of familiarity in the maritime industry. Piper alpha prosecutions worth considering, says mp. Piper alpha disaster on an oil and gas platform in the.
E ven 25 years on, charles haffeys most powerful memory of the piper alpha disaster was the overwhelming, deafening noise. Two men implicated in the chain of events which ended with the piper alpha oil rig disaster could have been wrongly blamed, according to a bbc television documentary. The accident that occurred on board the offshore platform piper alpha in july 1988 killed 167 people and cost billions of dollars in property damage. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life it had also produced gas from two wells. Piper alpha platform, north sea offshore technology oil. A northeast mp suggested yesterday that prosecutions could still be launched over the piper alpha disaster. The public inquiry into the piper alpha disaster tom minogue. On 6 july 1988, an explosion and fire ripped through the piper alpha oil. Like many other offshore platforms, piper alpha had an automatic. Click to read all about coronavirus health, safety and environment in the oil and gas industry. Jul 15, 20 in the case of piper alpha management, shortcomings emerged in a variety of forms.
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. Piper alpha disaster news, views, gossip, pictures, video. The piper alpha disaster in 1988 shocked the world, and changed. Two crewmen on a rescue boat also perished and 30 bodies were never recovered. 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. About piper alpha placed at north sea, the platform began production in 1976, first as an oil platform and the. This is the conclusion of the cullen report into the explosion on the oil rig piper alpha that killed 167 men. Experimental results show that the flames would merge at fire spacings less than 0.
A list of the 167 men who lost their life in north sea tragedy. 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. The piper alpha platform, showing the pipe deck and other features related to. Accident investigation 4 introduction the incident covered in this study is piper alpha disaster which took place in 1988.
The piper alpha incident is still regarded as the worst offshore oil disaster in the history of the uk. Of the 226 mean on board the platform at the time only 61 survived. The 1988 piper alpha platform disaster in the north sea is the worst oil rig accident to date. 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. A comparison of accident analysis techniques for safetycritical manmachine systems. Jun 24, 2014 dokumenter mengenai ledakan anjungan lepas pantai piper alpha di north sea. Nov 03, 2011 this report in two volumes is the final report on the public inquiry into the piper alpha platform disaster in the north sea by a parliamentary commission under lord cullen. Piper alpha public inquiry commenced the hon lord cullen was appointed by secretary of state to hold a public inquiry to establish the circumstances of the accident on piper alpha and its cause. An fta has been applied to the piper alpha accident according to the most probable scenario as described in the previous section. Apr 05, 2016 accident happened in result of wrong ptw. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard alpha piper assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed.
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 rig produced oil, gas and condensate primarily propane and was linked to two other drilling platforms via large undersea pipelines. It outlines the findings of the investigation in vol. For open structures, the merge experiments series reported by merx et al 15,16. Piper alpha was an oil production platform on north sea, approximately 110 miles from aberdeen, which was operated by occidental petroleum caledonia ltd. Piper alpha disaster anniversary of tragedy in the north.
The failure of the piper alpha was an engineering disaster caused by a fatal gas. Pdf in 1998, the explosion of the piper alpha platform claimed 167 lives. Jul 01, 2019 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 anniversary of tragedy in the north sea. Dokumenter mengenai ledakan anjungan lepas pantai piper alpha di north sea. A comparison of accident analysis techniques for safety.
The controversy around it was heightened when a report. 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 shore. Piper alpha was a large north sea oil platform that started production in 1976. It was caused by a massive fire, which was not the result of an unpredictable act of god but of an accumulation of errors and questionable decisions.
This year, on july 6th 2008, twenty years will have passed since the terrible night which claimed the lives of 167 of our offshore workmates in the tragedy that was piper alpha. Piper alpha was a north sea oil production platform operated by occidental petroleum caledonia ltd. May 06, 20 july 6, 1988, piper oilfield, north sea. Case study presentation on piper al pha and san juanico incident conference on chemical industrial disaster management cidm c. It accounted for around ten per cent of the oil and gas production from north sea at the time. The crew worked to resolve the issue before platform production was affected. Outline about piper alpha platform the happening event timeline cause of the disaster effect of the disaster key failures improvement and prevention conclusion 2. Bibliography building process safety culture tool kit. It began production in 1976, initially as an oilonly platform but later converted to add gas production. Pdf the british offshore oil industry after piper alpha. 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 is an offshore oil and gas platform that suffered an explosion. Sweeping changes needed in the way that safety in the offshore industry is assessed. The authors come from a mixed blend of offshore disciplines, with over 80 years of.
Importance learning from major incident piper alpha disaster. Piper alpha that killed 167 workers in the worlds deadliest offshore oil industry disaster. Piper alpha the night that changed our world print this page the sky was alight and acrid smoke billowed into the cold air the night 167 men lost their lives 28 years on and the scars of the piper alpha disaster have still not healed. Hero diver fled to australia to escape his piper alpha. Health, safety and environment in the oil and gas industry. A disaster which could have been, if not totally adverted, dramatically changed in course without the horrible loss of human life.
Aviation safety network asn aviation safety wikibase. It appears your web browser is not configured to display pdf files. Conference on chemical industrial disaster management cidm piper alpha. One hundred and sixty seven men died in the worlds worst offshore oil disaster. Piper alpha that killed 167 workers in the worlds deadliest offshore oil industry. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea approximately 120 miles 190 km. The accident was caused by a breakdown of several procedures. Piper alpha platform, north sea offshore technology oil and gas. Piper alpha 25 years on have we learned the lessons. Piper alpha 30 years since the worlds deadliest offsho.
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. For similar platforms and for a welldefined class of accidents, however, this study is the. Riskbased domino effect analysis for fire and explosion. Piper alpha the night that changed our world step change. The inquiry commenced with a preliminary hearing in aberdeen on 11 november 1988 and lord cullens report was. The piper alpha platform is the largest and oldest platform in the north sea oilfield. Accidents piper alpha san juanico mexico way forward. The 1988 piper alpha tragedy claimed 167 lives after a gas leak caused the oil production platform to explode. Professionalismpiper alpha oil rig disaster wikibooks.
Piper alpha presentation safety emergency incident. A blend of prescriptive and objective regulation is recommended. Piper alpha re ceived and sent to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms. The accident killed 165 out of 226 crew members and two crew members from the standby vessel sandhaven. Oct, 2011 the piper alpha oil rig disaster, which occurred in 1988, remains the worst ever oil rig accident. 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. Constructed for oil collection by mcdermott engineering and operated by occidental group, piper alpha was located 120 miles northeast of aberdeen, scotland.
Jul 04, 20 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. A series of explosions destroyed the piper alpha oil platform in the north sea. So other platforms continued production and pumping of gas for sometime which supplied additional fuel to the fire at piper. This week marks the 23th anniversary of the worst offshore oil disaster in history. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard piper alpha assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. Hero diver fled to australia to escape his piper alpha hell and wed the love of his life a survivor of the piper alpha disaster flew halfway around. Just a sample of presentation format for piper alpha disaster cause which may help u in preparation for something like this in the future. Which is the same issue that led to the 1988 piper alpha north sea oil rig. Piper alpha presentation free download as powerpoint presentation. Frontline scotland, which will be shown on tuesday night, questions the longheld view that the inferno in july 1988 which claimed the lives of 167 men was sparked by a single.
1508 511 512 470 470 589 911 733 1188 855 1551 1592 1420 1268 747 959 708 1136 546 1220 396 123 1601 98 328 273 1196 1160 1294 514 1036 940 446 968 1460 284 693 249 1232 505 577 1350 1306 630