105

1

PiperAlphawasonceBritain'sbiggestsingleoilandgasproducingplatform,builtin1976andproducedmorethan300,000barrelsofcrudeaday–10%ofthecountry'stotal–frombelowtheseabed125milesnorth-eastofAberdeen.OilwasdiscoveredatthePiperfieldin1973andwasbroughtonstreamthreeyearslater.By1980thesteelplatformwasmodifiedtoalsotakegasandwasconnectedbypipelinetotheOrkneyIslands.Itwasproducingabout300,000barrelsofoiladayforOccidentalPetroleumPoorcommunicationduringashiftchangeresultedinakeypieceofpipeworkthathadbeensealedwithatemporarycoverandnosafetyvalvewasusedallowinggastoleakoutandignitedwhilefirewallsthatwouldhaveresistedafireonanoilplatformfailedtocopewiththegasexplosionoverpressures.Flamesreachingover100mintotheairforcing61mentosurvivebyjumping175ft(53m)fromtherig'shelicopterdeckintothesea.

2

Thepublicenquirythatfollowednocriminalchargeswerebroughtagainstthecompanyhowever,106recommendationsforchangeswererecommendedtothesafetyoperationsfortheNorthSeaoperationsallofwhichweacceptedbytheoilindustries.

IntheyearsthatfollowedthepiperAlphadisastertheoilcompanieshavespentover£2bnonhealthandsafetymatters.

SincethisincidenttherehasnotbeenanotherNorthSeablowout.

PiperAlpha,NorthSeaJuly6,1988

EventStatistics

Withintwohourstherighadcollapsedfromitsposition300ftabovethesurfaceoftheseaand becomeaflamingpyreoftwistedmetal.

LessonsLearned

Durationoffire

Numberofcasualties

Costtoindustry

References

167casualties

£1.7Billionplus

PiperAlpha.1988.[Online].[Accessed12October2014].http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr089.pdfPiperAlpha.JudgeLardCullen2013.[Online].[Accessed23October2014].http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-22863286

TypeoffireGasvapourexplosion/hydrocarbon

Massiveleakageofgascondensatethatwasignitedcausinganexplosion,whichledtolargeoilfires

IgnitionSource