Piper Alpha Incident
Posted: 25 Nov 2010, 05:06
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 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. Most of them were rooted in the organization, its structure, procedures, and culture.
Some of the causal factors of the incident include:-
1. Platform Design issues
2. Site Mgt was not authorized to shutdown the plant without prior approval from top Mgt stationed onshore.
3. Blast walls were not available
4. Temporary under-rated blind installed in place of removed PSV
5. Communication gap between both shifts as incoming shift was not knowledgeable on removal of PSV.
6. Emergency Response decision makers died in the first explosion & no stand-in had been nominated
7. Fire pumps were on manual mode as divers were working on suction line
8. Helicopter could not land on the platform due to flame & heavy smoke
9. Inadequate firefighting equipment
Some learnings for us.
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. Most of them were rooted in the organization, its structure, procedures, and culture.
Some of the causal factors of the incident include:-
1. Platform Design issues
2. Site Mgt was not authorized to shutdown the plant without prior approval from top Mgt stationed onshore.
3. Blast walls were not available
4. Temporary under-rated blind installed in place of removed PSV
5. Communication gap between both shifts as incoming shift was not knowledgeable on removal of PSV.
6. Emergency Response decision makers died in the first explosion & no stand-in had been nominated
7. Fire pumps were on manual mode as divers were working on suction line
8. Helicopter could not land on the platform due to flame & heavy smoke
9. Inadequate firefighting equipment
Some learnings for us.