Category: Industrial Accidents
Bayer Cropscience Investigation by CSB-panel announced
Washington, DC, January 14, 2011 – The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today announced the panel participants for its public meeting to present findings from Bayer CropScience investigation, which will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2011, at West Virginia State University in Institute, WV. The CSB’s investigation team will present its final report into the August 28, 2008, explosion of a waste tank and the ensuing fire in the methomyl production unit.
The meeting will be held from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm at West Virginia State University in Sullivan Hall, Wilson University Union Multipurpose Room 103 in Institute, WV. Following the presentation from the investigative team, the board members will hear testimony on proposed recommendations from the following individuals:
· Kent Carper – President, Kanawha County Commission
· Dr. Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, FACP – Health Officer and Executive Director, Kanawha-Charleston Health Department
· Pam Nixon – Environmental Advocate, WV Department of Environmental Protection
· Maya Nye – Spokeswoman, People Concerned about MIC
· Jim Payne – President, United Steelworkers Local 5, California
· Randy Sawyer – Hazardous Materials Programs Director, Contra Costa County, California
Following the panel presentations, members of the audience will have an opportunity to present a public comment to the Board. The meeting is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is not required, but to assure adequate seating attendees are encouraged to pre-register by emailing their names and affiliations to publicmeeting@csb.gov.
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents. The agency’s board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.
The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA. Visit our website, www.csb.gov.
Gas Leak in Indian pharma facility results in two fatalities
Hyderabad, India Dec 21- A suspected gas leak was reported at a facility operated by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, a major Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer in Hyderabad. The leak resulted in two fatalities, both of whom were contract workers. Local sources say that an additional four persons were shifted to a local hospital after the incident.
No information was forthcoming from the company officials regarding the incident. Local police are said to be investigating.
Local media reports say that the gas that leaked was Nitrogen, which was inhaled by the workers and caused asphyxiation.
Nitrogen, though an inert gas can be extremely harmful to humans as it tends to displace Oxygen and causes asphyxiation. We had posted on this blog about the dangers of nitrogen, you can read the article here.
Industrial gases can be extremely dangerous if not monitored. However monitoring with gas monitors and gas detectors also requires training in understanding, selection and placement, as well as calibration and maintenance of gas monitors. To do this we recommend an excellent training course on gas monitors. Find out more about it here.
Offshore Oil and Gas Regulation-CSB to hold hearing
CSB to Hold Hearing in Washington DC to Hear Expert Testimony on Regulation of Offshore Oil and Gas Safety Practices
Washington, DC, November 23, 2010 – The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) today announced that it will be holding a daylong public hearing entitled “Regulatory Approaches to Offshore Oil and Gas Safety” on Wednesday, December 15, 2010, in Washington DC. The meeting is part of the CSB’s ongoing investigation into the April 20, 2010, fire and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 workers. The hearing will bring together international regulators, union representatives and industry groups to discuss approaches to regulating the safety of offshore oil and gas exploration and production.
The meeting will be held from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm at the Embassy Suites Ballroom located at 1250 22nd Street Northwest in Washington D.C. The meeting is free and open to the public.
The CSB’s board members and Deepwater Horizon investigation team will hear testimony from leading safety experts involved in offshore drilling activities from the United Kingdom, Australia and Norway. Members of the audience will have an opportunity to comment and to submit questions for the panel participants.
The meeting will be available via webcast. All proceedings will be videotaped and an official transcript will be published.
BP releases investigation report into Deepwater Horizon accident
Sep 09, 2010- BP released their own internal investigation report yesterday into the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, fire, sinking and then massive oil spill caused by the rupturing of the pipeline riser several thousand meters below the ocean surface of the Macondo well. However, there is no one cause that has been listed, but rather several contributing causes have been mentioned. Some of the key noteworthy points in the report are listed below.
Our own comments are highlighted below (in bold italics).
1. Weaknesses in cement design and testing.
2. Failure of the shoe-track barrier in isolating hydrocarbons. The investigation team has reportedly found some clues that identify how the shoetrack cement and the float collar allowed hydrocarbon ingress into the production casing.
3. Acceptance of the negative pressure test before establishing the well integrity-here BP has pointed fingers at the Transocean rig crew as well as at BP’s own rig leadership which “incorrectly” interpreted the test results.
4. Influx was not recognized until the hydrocarbons were in the riser.Apparently almost 40 minutes before the crew started taking action, increase in drill pipe pressure data could be seen-which was not apparently noticed.
5. Wrong actions on diverting the fluids exiting the riser to the Mud-Gas separator, rather than to the overboard diverter line.
6. Once diverted to the Mud-Gas Separator, the fluids got vented onto the rig itself, where it these fluids may have found an ignition source and exploded
7. Failure of the Fire & Gas System to prevent ignition-this point seems a bit debatable, because an F & G system cannot “prevent” a fire from occuring really- all it does it to measure any gas leaks or fires and extinguish them. Apparently the hydrocarbons went into unclassified areas like engine rooms where it could find potential sources of ignition.
Incidentally this is a similar phenomenon that was observed in the infamous Buncefield, UK accident where a large explosion took place.
8. Lastly the Blow Out Preventer (BOP) did not seal the well. The control pods that were supposed to act did not work, a guess is that they got damaged due to the fire and explosion. Consequently a critical solenoid operated valve did not operate. What is more startling and damning however, is that the control pod batteries had inadequate charging, due to which the Solenoid valve did not operate-this is most certainly an oversight by the maintenance personnel who were in charge of the Control & Instrumentation systems on the rig.
Finally the report mentioned that the investigation revealed potential weaknesses in the inspection and maintenance regimes.
Though there will be several more investigation reports from different agencies like the Coast Guard, the US Chemical Safety Board and others, the initial BP investigation does seem to have covered a lot of ground. It raises questions about hazardous area classification, especially on an oil rig where the classification of areas that are classified and “safe” or “non-hazardous” seems a bit arbitrary. If one cannot know which areas of the rig would have the presence of hydrocarbons then there is no point in classifying-one should designate all areas as hazardous, although with different risk profiles such as Zone 1, Zone 2 and so on.
We’re sure this is not the last that would be written on this subject, but it gives a good idea of the importance of two subjects-hazardous area classification and gas monitors
Have a look at the excellent training resources for both of these crucial topics here.
Another Gulf Oil Rig Explosion-Mariner Energy rig accident
Sep 3, 2010 Houma, La — Yet another accident at an Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico! An oil rig operated by Mariner Energy Inc in shallow water suffered an explosion. About 13 workers had to jump into the sea, from where they were later rescued. No casualties have been reported. This comes as a bad news to the Oil & Gas industry, which is already battling a mortarium on deepwater drilling in the gulf. Now that this latest accident has taken place in shallow waters raises a lot of question marks over the safety of operations in ALL offshore places, shallow or deep. AS of now no oil spill has been reported, but its too early to say.
Recall that when the first reports of the Deepwater Horizon explosion started coming in the spillage reported was “only a few hundred barrels” and slowly it emerged that hundreds of thousands of barrels may have been spilled. Lets cross our fingers and watch this one.
