Piper Alpha: Costly Oil & Gas Accident in 1988 - Essay Sample

Introduction

Oil and gas firm's front-line workers operate with very hazardous materials. There is a high cost for accidents both in financial and human terms. Due to the flammable state of oil and gas, there is the possibility of fatal accidents and life-altering phases of the production process. Piper Alpha was an oil and gas production industry at the North Sea operated by Caledonia Company limited. According to CASA Briefing (2018), In July 1988, Piper Alpha suffered an explosion in which people view it as an awful offshore oil tragedy in the United Kingdom history. The eruption was one of the world's most enormous offshore oil catastrophes that affected oil production in the UK and resulted in financial losses. According to Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (2018), engulfed in the fire, much of the oil rig topside components collapsed into the sea resulting in the death of 167 men while others experienced traumatization and injury. The accident occurred primarily due to human error forcing the offshore industry to adhere to safety issues. The Piper Alpha disaster and the subsequent inquiries led by Lord Cullen essentially restructured the offshore oil industry. Oil organizations should establish a management change plan to create safe rig business and avoid disasters.

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Safety Culture

Organizations can practice safety culture plans in the oil rig business. Safety culture is a continuing achievement; it necessitates sustained effort and constant adaptation in the entire organization. Establishing some modifications such as a disastrous organizational accident can help in attaining the safety culture. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016), strengthening safety culture is as a result of sustained effort, leadership attention, and best practices. For example, in the Piper Alpha explosion, the accident occurred due to inadequate maintenance work, which was performed continuously on high pressure leading to leakages. Firms that approach safety as a commitment and cultural value to their individuals and work can encourage meaningful transformations across the organization. For instance, if organizations use automating tank cleaning, they can attain confined space entry. Removing confined space entry minimizes probable contact with harmful chemicals. If rigs are utilized to place the cleaning tools in the tank, it reduces the necessity to climb in tanks, reducing the risks of falls. Thus, a facility promoting influential safety culture would inspire workers to develop a questioning, prudent, and rigorous approach to all features of their jobs.

High-Reliability Organizations (HRO)

HROs frequently achieve their missions while evading catastrophic occurrences regardless of dynamic tasks, substantial hazards, multifaceted technologies, and time restraints. When leaders compel to safety and use it as a high priority, their performances result in more open communication about safety concerns and increase the possibility of internal ascriptions for safety occurrences to avoid future incidents, thus generating circumstances for learning from error. According to CASA Briefing (2018), the lack of communication in Piper Alpha meant that the staff was unaware of not using the critical piece of pipework, which was sealed with a temporary cover without a safety valve. It resulted in leakage of gas igniting firewalls that would have prevented fire on an oil platform hence failing to manage with the ensuing gas explosion. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016), oil firms with strong safety policies include a group or person that is accountable for directing management at all levels of the company on long-term resolutions in engineering development and design of different approaches and on the safety insinuations of decisions during processes. Personnel training and communication is usually offered in a team setting and is enabled through simulators to provide practicality and boost the team's work procedures and capability to manage unanticipated occurrences. Thus, this modification needs to be practiced by any oil organization that does not have such a communication process safety group.

Conflicting Objectives

HROs frequently depend on risk assessment to enlighten their planning processes and decision-making for performing operations. The two main aspects of risk are the possibilities of an occurrence of a catastrophic and its significances. Proper problem explanation for risk analysis of multifaceted systems reflects all the variables comprising, social, psychological, and organizational processes, engineering, and technological practices. Also, risk evaluation can measure safety in a complex technologic oil organization by linking catastrophe prospect to performance within numerous features of the firm. Organizations should ensure the adjustment of job descriptions and processes to maintain a balance between efficient production and safety of the task. For example, Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (2018), Lloyd's insurance market, paid more than one billion euros incurring losses making it the biggest insured human-made disaster. Piper Alpha should have evaluated the risks that may occur in the firm and provide safety guidelines to avoid conflicts of losses in the firm. Hence, a sound safety culture guarantees that the firm can communicate conflicting ideas without compromising the safety system and maintain the possibility of system failure as minimum as practicable.

System Safety in Offshore Drilling Operations

The offshore industry is tremendously evolving to meet the problems of determining and generating oil and gas under hostile situations. The Offshore Installations and Wells ensure the installation's integrity, the safety of onshore, offshore wells, and the workplace environment. However, one suggestion of the lack of appreciation for the overall view of the safety system is the inadequate level of training offered by the contractors and operators. The level of system safety training provided by the oil and gas organizations seems to be uncertainly contrasted with that delivered by the nuclear power, military, and aerospace firms, which also experience multifaceted challenges and risky conditions. For example, According to CASA Briefing (2018), Piper Alpha incidence occurred at the offshore mainly due to human error, which might be as a result of inadequate training. Oil industries should use sophisticated software and firmware, which provide a lot of control functionality. Mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) gradually depend on dynamic placing by using different computer-controlled thrusters to maintain their place over the well. In the conditions of power, blackouts, and outages or thruster failures, every rig contains an automated system of disconnect that lets out the MODU from the well. The action sequence aims to stimulate the shear the drill pipe and subsea blowout preventer system (BOP). Releasing the riser from the BOP entails highly automated commands and functionality.

Conclusion

Safety is a continuing mission in the oil and gas firms. In an environment that positions employees at risk, it is vital to guarantee that security is a foundational value that intensely entrenches in an organization's culture. There should be a high safety awareness levels between most industry participants. Communication and training will always play a significant role in the staff about the threats of confined spaces, natural gases, exposure to chemicals, and other risks of the oil and gas organization. The technology bounds and keeping safe work environments is essential in maintaining safety in the oil rig business. The offshore oil firm requires reliable work for their environment and crews. As technology develops to meet the oil demand, the rig hand will stay dominant in maintaining and creating a safe work environment. Individuals must acknowledge that safety and business performance are inseparable. Every individual has a role to play in aiding prevent accidents.

References

CASA Briefing (2018).The Night the system failed - The Piper Alpha Inferno. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP4ZTXYqCA4

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016). Strengthening the safety culture of the offshore oil and gas industry. https://www.eenews.net/assets/2016/05/26/document_ew_02.pdf

Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (2018). The legacy of Piper Alpha. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWQxxV7ejg8