Abstract this research explains about the disaster of piper alpha which occurred in the north sea on 6 july 1988 which killed 167 people and cost billions dollars in property damage. In 1996, lord cullen led the inquiry into the massacre at dunblane primary school ladbroke grove. Bibliography building process safety culture tool kit. First, the public inquiry has just begun and it is likely to continue for about 6 to 9 months or longer. Piper alpha atform from the,xlpha forll the all pi. Piper alpha was an oil production platform on north sea, approximately 110 miles from aberdeen, which was operated by occidental petroleum caledonia ltd. Image caption a minutes silence was held at the piper alpha memorial. An explosion and resulting oil and gas fires destroyed piper alpha on 6 july 1988, killing 167.
The piper alpha disaster revealed the potential of operation failures with respect to dramatically destroying an entire offshore installation. These include the 1974 flixborough accident, the 1976 seveso incident and the 1987 piper alpha disaster. Landmark piper alpha cullen report now free to download. The crew worked to resolve the issue before platform production was affected. Piper alpha was an oil production platform in the north sea operated by occidental petroleum caledonia limited. Piper alpha was a large north sea oil platform that started production in 1976. 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 the flames that were consuming it. After the rupture of the first gas line, piper alpha was doomed. 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. Piper alpha presentation free download as powerpoint presentation.
Pdf the british offshore oil industry after piper alpha. Piper disaster the hon lord cullen department of energy. The management of occupational health and safety in the. As is well documented, this disaster took place aboard the north sea oil platform, piper. Building and maintaining a culture of safety in a research facility david m. The tartan platform has been continuing to pump gas to piper alpha. Hmso, sets out in minute detail in some 380 pages excluding appendices what happened on the rig in the build up to the disaster and its horrendous progress from fire, through explosion, and in parallel to escape and rescue. It produced oil from 24 wells and in its early life it had also produced gas from two wells. Abbreviated timeline of the piper alpha disaster, 6th. Learning from the piper alpha accident semantic scholar. Piper alpha presentation safety emergency incident.
The main contributors to the piper alpha disaster are. Piper alpha oil rig explosion leaves 167 dead the worlds deadliest offshore oil disaster was caused by a gas leak on the north sea oil rig. On july 6, 1988, the piper alpha oil platform experienced a series of 10 catastrophic explosions and fires. As diving was such a regular part of normal operation. Pdf survivors of the piper alpha oil platform disaster. Piper alpha that killed 167 workers in the worlds deadliest offshore oil. Survivors of the piper alpha oil platform disaster. Piper alpha timeline of the incident timeline incident.
Pipe lift raft on its aunching platform efore h, init. The third cullen report was a result of lord cullens. A common safety system, the permit to work aims to ensure that only quali. It began production in 1976, but on july 6, 1988 it was the site of the worlds. Investigations into these incidents highlighted deficiencies in.
Piper alpha re ceived and sent to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms. It is, however, still a live and emotional issue for several reasons. 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. The disaster caused the death of 165 men out of 226 on board. Using concept maps to assess learning of safety case. Minutes silence for piper alphas 167 victims bbc news. The north seas piper oil field was discovered in 1973. This produced a further massive explosion and fireball that engulfed the piper alpha platform. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard alpha piper assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. British sector north sea oil field 120 miles aberdeen scotland 4 5. About piper alpha 15 it was discovered in 1973 by occidental petroleum caledonia in 1975 piper alpha oil rig was constructed on july 6th 1988, an explosion of the piper alpha platform 3 4. What caused the giant piper alpha oil rig explosion. A look into the piper alpha disaster highlighting ethical issues. 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.
During the late 70s, major works were carried out to enable the platform to meet uk government gas export requirements and after this work had been completed, piper alpha was operating in what was known as phase 2 mode operating with the gas conservation module gcm since the end of 1980 up until july 1988. On july 6, 1988, explosions and fire on this north sea oil production platform killed 167. Pdf preventable disasters in the offshore oil industry. 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.
Lord cullens report into the disaster after a month inquiry led to a radical overhaul of safety practices all 106. Pdf this article compares two industrial disasters in the offshore oil industry, the explosion and fire on piper alpha off the coast of scotland in. Highly visible incidents with farreaching economic and industry effects in which lives were lost include the piper alpha offshore accident 1988, the columbia space shuttle disaster 2003, and the bp texas city refinery explosion 2005. Accident investigation 4 introduction the incident covered in this study is piper alpha disaster which took place in 1988. The loss of the piper alpha platform in 1988 is the case study used in the present study. The piper alpha oil rig disaster occurred about 9 months prior to the initial preparation of this chapter. Impact of piper alpha disaster in 1988 in spite of incompatibilities the adapted ship safety approach it was continued to be used with minor modifications. Fire in the night relives the tragic events that occurred on the piper alpha rig on 6th july 1988. So other platforms continued production and pumping of gas for sometime which supplied additional fuel to the fire at piper. 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.
Download as ppt, pdf, txt or read online from scribd. References weekend aberdeen, nov 27, 20, youtube, retrieved from. Lecture by brian appleton technical adviser to the enquiry on piper alpha accident. Pdf in 1998, the explosion of the piper alpha platform claimed 167 lives, making it the worlds worst offshore oil disaster. Occupational health and safety management systems ohsms were developed in the aftermath of a number of welldocumented, serious industrial accidents during the 1970s and 1980s. The change in safety management for offshore oil and gas. This research report also examines about the objectives and the structures of the management of the piper alpha oil platform. Piper alpha the house of lords landmark decision gard. The main elements presented to the students in the class room follow. An evaluation of human failure contributions to piper alpha disaster abstract the 1988 piper alpha disaster still remains the worst offshore oil platform. 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.
So why didnt the fire protection system activate as intended. It began production in 1976, initially as an oilonly platform but later converted to add gas production. Public inquiry into the piper alpha disaster the lord cullen report. But on july 6, 1988, the entire structure became consumed by a devastating and deadly fire.
This paper examines the following aspects of offshore safety in oil and gas production systems before and after the piper alpha disaster. It was only the major disaster of piper alpha in the north sea. Just a sample of presentation format for piper alpha disaster cause which may help u in preparation for something like this in the future. Building and maintaining a culture of safety in a research.
The documentary features astonishing testimonies from men who found. Piper alpha essay sample sample essays online library. Description the disaster began with a routine maintenance procedure. Piper alpha and the cullen report oxford academic journals. The new engineer who must find a path to safety on a burning oil rig. Hon lord cullenthe public enquiry into the piper alpha disaster. It was connected by an oil pipeline to flotta and by gas pipelines to two other installations.
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 explosions and fires. The first cullen report was prompted by occidental petroleums piper alpha disaster on 6 july 1988, in which gas condensate ignited, killing 167 of the 229 people on board the oil platform in only 22 minutes dunblane. Date 6th of july 1988 consequences 167 out of the 229 people on board were killed. Download adobe acrobat or click here to download the pdf file. Pdf an evaluation of human failure contributions to piper alpha. For many years, the practice on piper alpha was to switch the fire pumps from automatic to manual when divers were in the sea. As shifts changed and the night crew aboard piper alpha assumed duties for the evening, one of the platforms two condensate pumps failed. It appears your web browser is not configured to display pdf files.
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