May 25,2015, Santa Barbara– The oil pipeline that leaked more than a hundred thousand gallons into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, apparently did not make use of Functional Safety measures, that are common in these kind of installations, say news reports. Most modern pipelines have automatic shutoff valves that can be shut … Read more
Oct 29, 2014– After the discovery of Stuxnet in 2010, there seemed to be a lull in the rate of discovery of malware that specifically targeted industrial systems. If you recollect Stuxnet was the first really widespread, sophisticated and highly targeted malware that was directed at Siemens Control Systems including the SIMATIC range of PLCs. … Read more
June 5, 2014- Houston– The US Chemical Safety Board has found a design flaw in the Blow Out Preventer (BOP) mechanism used in the BP Deepwater Horizon rig, that most likely led to the accident that became on of the world’s biggest oil spills in history. The worrying fact is that existing BOPs on existing … Read more
Jan 13, 2014 Charleston, W.Va– The chemical spillage that occurred on Thursday, 9th Jan 2014 has created a major environmental crisis, with a shortage of potable water. The chemical 4 methyl cyclohexane methanol spilled into the Elk river that supplies potable water to Charleston, which has made the water too toxic for even washing or … Read more
Today marks the 30th anniversary of America’s worst commercial nuclear accident at three mile island. Many people remember the accident simply as the “three mile island incident”. What lessons have we learnt from this accident? Are we having better industrial management systems today than were present at that time? Are we better prepared now to … Read more
