Deepwater Horizon sequence of events-how it all happened
April 30, 2010- Interested in knowing the sequence of events that took place during one of the largest offshore oil & gas industry accidents that took place? I’m referring to the Deepwater Horizon accident, where the rig, owned by Trnasocean and leased out to BP, suffered an explosion(probably a blowout) and then a massive fire that had flames leap some 400 feet high. The smoke that billowed out could be seen in satellite images (yes, it was that bad). After a few hours the Deepwater Horizon’s metal simply weakened and it toppled over, sinking into the Gulf of Mexico.
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For training programs on Safety Instrumented Systems, Gas Monitors and Hazardous Area Instrumentation, click here.
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The rig, which was a high tech piece of equipment ever made is thought to have cost about $350 million to make and about a million dollars a day to operate. The enormous loss (and the even bigger consequential damages that are occuring even today) highlight how much more efforts companies have to now invest in good engineering, safety practices and environmental risk assessments. Here are some photographs, taken from close quarters
(Editor Note: If you have any objection to these due to copyright issues, please contact us via the contact us form, we will take it down. These are being reproduced here under the aegis of “fair use” guidelines).
Deepwater Horizon Fire
Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Fire Fighting in Progress
Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Lists and Sinks
Deepwater Horizon Satellite Image Smoke
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Fire after sinking
Deepwater horizon oil spill threatens Louisiana coast national emergency declared
April 30,2010 -The massive oil spill triggered by the massive Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig explosion, fire and sinking into the sea , now threatens the Louisiana coastline. It has been declared as a National Emergency. Large booms are in place near the coastline to arrest the oil spill and prevent it from being washed ashore. Gov. Bobby Jindal has requistioned the services of the National Guard, to help cope with the situation. This is probably the worst disaster to have affected the state since Hurrican Katrina and the oil spill threatens to now be as big as the infamous Exxon Valdez spill.
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Here’s a comprehensive training course on Safety Instrumented Systems. Click here for more details and to download the demo.
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Meanwhile, reports say that some Shrimp farmers are planning to sue BP to recover damages to their livelihood. The US Fish and Wildlife service have also been pressed into action to rescue and protect the various fish and bird species that live in the area. About 900 pelicans near Breton are thought to be in danger. There are a total estimated 1.5 million waterfowl that migrates into the area during this season, who may be at risk.
Oil gets into the feathers of birds, making them unable to fly or forage for food, leading to mass starvation. The oil also gets into their system, adversely affecting their health. Additionally, oil slicks also prevent Oxygen from dissolving in the water, that chokes fish and other marine life that depends on dissolved oxygen to “breathe”.
This has been a worse disaster for BP than the infamous Texas City refinery accident and should lead to top management focus (in all oil companies, not just BP) on good engineering, safety and environmental risk management, rather than just the financial numbers that they are normally obssessed with.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill gets worse
You can now download the Safety Instrumented Systems e-learning course demo from here. Covers Safety Integrity Level (SIL), IEC 61508 and related topics in detail.
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April 29, 2010- The oil rig explosion and fire that occured in the Gulf of Mexico last week is now thought to be leaking out five times the oil than originally estimated. The new estimate is 42,000 gallons per day of crude. This can cause large scale damage to the marine environment in the area. The US Coast Guard has now stepped in to contain the slick and now plans are afoot to burn off the oil spill.
The original Deepwater Horizon accident can be found in this blog post here.
This seems to have a bad impact on the share price of BP, which saw continued weakness in the markets on the news. Upto now the shares have dropped more than 11%, resulting in a loss of market cap of about $20 billion. This shows how important Safety, health and the environment is to a companies financial health too. This issue is often not understood by some company managements, who see no value in spending on good and safe engineering practices and maintenance.
The video below (posted on YouTube) shows the problem with great visuals.
Confined space entry-safety regulations, permits,procedures, training
Miami, April 24, 2010 -This post will be about confined spaces and the various permits, regulations and procedures to follow. We in the industrial sectors must ensure that every confined space entry becomes safe and not even a single one results in an accident.
So what are confined spaces? A confined space is defined in most labor or safety regulations, as an area that is enclosed from almost all sides, has limited access from outside, is not usually manned and which could become dangerous for humans who work inside. Examples of confined spaces are typically oil storage tanks, process reactors in chemical plants, the inside of a boiler or furnace or even a city sewer.
What dangers do workers face when they enter confined spaces? Well, they may face a danger of asphyxiation, danger due to lack of breathing air, toxic or hazardous chemicals and even drowning due to water (say in case of an entry into a water storage tank that is being cleaned before refilled with water). Due to these dangers, there are systematic procedures that must be followed in case of a confined space entry. Not following these, is not just illegal, it may endanger human lives. The first requirement in such a procedure, is for an entry permit that is to be issued to any worker who enters a confined space.
According to OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration), a permit required confined space as having the following characteristics
- Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere
- Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing the entrant
- Has an internal configuration that might cause an entrant to be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section
- Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazards.
Despite these guidelines, annually, there are several accidents and fatalities that occur every year, as a result of workers entering confined spaces. The only way to prevent such accidents is by ensuring that all workers (and their supervisors), who work or are likely to work (even once a year) in a confined space are adequately trained to work in such spaces.
The permit to enter a confined space has to be issued by the worker’s supervisor, who is well aware of the dangers of the confined space. There should also be a provision for a person who will remain standby outside, ready to rescue the person inside, in case of a problem.
All hazardous sources of energy must be locked out and tagged, inlet lines must be blocked and oxygen inside must be measured to ensure that the entrant (worker actually entering the confined space) is safe. Note that in case of activities that consume oxygen (think of a welder who is welding something inside a storage tank), there must be a continuous supply of breathing air. Nitrogen blanketing systems must be shut off and ensured that they are not activated before the person comes out.
The worker must wear personal protective equipment. If entering an area that has a presence of toxic gas (like Hydrogen Sulfide) in normal operation, the entrant must also carry a personal gas monitor that will warn in case the contamination level of the toxic gas is above the safe limit.
Of course, there are many other precautions that must be taken, the ones given here are the most basic ones. To ensure that your workers are not subjected to undue dangers, you must ensure training in confined spaces to all concerned. A very cost effective way of doing this is by having an e-learning course that covers everything and can be viewed again and again by multiple workmen.
Check out the one given here, its recommended by Industrial Plant Safety.
Oklahama Oil Site Explosion-CSB releases report
The best training courses on hazardous areas are available here. Looking for an area classification presentation? Download the Practical Guide to Hazardous Areas now!
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Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, April 23, 2010 — A fiery explosion that took the life of a 21-year-old member of the public in Weeletka, Oklahoma, on April 14 occurred at an unattended oil and gas production site that was unsecured and likely lacked fire or explosion warning signs, CSB investigators have determined following a four-day field assessment. Investigators arrived in Weleetka on Sunday evening and have been examining the site, conducting witness interviews, and gathering other View of tanks involved in the April 14, 2010, explosion and fireinformation throughout the week.
The accident occurred at approximately 9:00 p.m., while six individuals aged 18 to 32 were socializing at the rural site, which was normally unmanned. The site, which had four petroleum storage tanks and two brine storage tanks, was operated on private land by two production firms, Three MG Family Inc. and Enterprise Energy, who leased the mineral rights. A third company, ScissorTail Energy, operated a gas metering and collection system connected to the production equipment.
The blast occurred about 10 minutes after the group arrived at the site. Witnesses stated that they were drawn to the site when they saw the open gate while driving along a public roadway. Witnesses further stated that oil sites were a common gathering place for local residents and that they were largely unfamiliar with the hazards.
Based on witness interviews, CSB investigators determined that a lit cigarette or lighter was the likely ignition source for the explosion, which happened as the 21-year-old male who later died was peering into the hatch on top of one of the tanks. That tank contained what was later described as approximately 160 barrels of light crude oil. The resulting explosion and fire engulfed the victim and caused a second explosion in an interconnected tank. The victim suffered third-degree burns over 85% of his body. He was able to describe the accident to emergency response and ambulance personnel, but died the following morning at a Tulsa burn unit. Another individual suffered second-degree burns. A fire burned for more than three hours at the site until it could be extinguished by several responding fire departments using foam.
“The catwalk leading to the top of the tank was unsecured and readily accessible,” said CSB Investigator Vidisha Parasram. “The tank hatches had no mechanism which would permit them to be secured or locked. No fire or explosion warning signs or other warning signage was visible anywhere on the site following the accident.” Ms. Parasram said the CSB would continue to study whether any signage could have been destroyed in the fire, but that even the undamaged portions of the facility and the entrance gates had no posted warnings. Eyewitnesses said they saw no signs on the night of the accident or during previous visits to the site.
The site entrance was protected only by an unmarked gate which multiple witnesses described as being wide open on the night of April 14, and generally open and unlocked at other times. Apart from the gate the site had no fencing or other protective measures that would keep members of the public safe from hazards on the site.
“Following this accident, our investigative team was able to observe a number of other oil and gas production sites in the area. The vast majority were unsecured and had no warning signs,” said CSB Investigations Supervisor Don Holmstrom, who leads the CSB regional office in Denver. “Oil and gas sites that lack security measures and warning signs are an accident waiting to happen.” State officials told the CSB that Oklahoma has approximately 257,000 active and unplugged oil and gas production sites; Oklahoma requires fencing and warning signs only at sites that have toxic hydrogen sulfide gas hazards, according to state officials.
The deadly blast occurred one day after the release of a new CSB safety video at a public meeting in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The safety video, “No Place to Hang Out,” is aimed at educating young people on the hazards of socializing at oil sites, a common practice in rural areas, the CSB found. The video tells the story of the tragic deaths of 18-year-old Wade White and 16-year-old Devon Byrd, killed October 31, 2009, when an oil tank, located in a clearing in the woods near the home of one of the boys in the rural town of Carnes, suddenly exploded while the two were hanging out at the site.
A CSB preliminary analysis released on April 13 showed that 24 similar explosions and fires occurred at oil and gas production sites between 1983 and 2009. Those accidents resulted in 42 fatalities and a number of injuries; all the fatalities occurred among teenagers and young adults under the age of 25. In most cases, the explosions were ignited by a cigarette, match, or lighter. The CSB found no specific federal standards or industry guidance for security or public protection measures at oil and gas production sites. Certain states including Ohio and Colorado require fencing and other public safety measures at sites in urban areas. Ohio requires tank hatches to be sealed and locked at unattended oil sites.
Counting the accident on April 14, the CSB has thus far identified a total of seven oil site explosions and fires in Oklahoma since 1990 that killed or injured members of the public, the highest total for any state. Four of these accidents caused multiple fatalities.
CSB Board Member William Wark said, “The CSB is concerned about these ongoing accidents across the country that are needlessly taking the lives of young people. To me, it is self-evident that hazardous oil and gas sites should be secured against unauthorized entry and posted with extensive and specific warning signs. And we need to educate teenagers and young adults to stay away from these sites – they are dangerous.” Mr. Wark said the CSB team received outstanding cooperation from local law enforcement and fire officials during the investigation.
The day prior to the explosion in Weleetka, the CSB Board issued a statement “urging oil and gas production companies to ensure that they provide adequate security and warning signage around sites that have tank fire or explosion hazards; and further urging state legislatures, local governments, and regulators to review rules governing oil and gas tank sites to ensure they require adequate barriers, security measures, and warning signs.” Mr. Wark said a CSB task group will be working over the next several months to develop additional specific safety recommendations, incorporating the findings from the recent accidents in Mississippi and Oklahoma.
