Remembering Piper

[sharprc]

All,

I appreciate that many of you are not from the oil and gas industry, however tomorrow morning is the anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster where 167 men lost their lives.

For more information, watch the video below.

http://youtu.be/3bMevR9HayI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We, as an industry can take so many learnings from this.

Indeed, this is the reason I chose to take a role in health and safety, we can work together to play our parts and prevent this from occurring again.

Best,

Rob

[Waterbaby]

2011- http://www.healthandsafetyatwork.com/hs ... ha-lessons" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Some may also remember what was said in the House of Commons when the Cullen report was published.
Condolences and tributes are not enough. The 30,000 people who daily earn their living on North Sea installations work and live in a profoundly hostile environment. They deal with raw energy in concentrations the magnitude and danger of which it is hard to comprehend,” MP Frank Dobson said.
We owe them more than tributes and condolences. We owe them the safest working conditions that can be obtained.”

1990 - http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volum ... -regs.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Cullen's recommendations were welcomed by the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association, which represents all operators in the U.K. North Sea.
The report will also be widely studied by companies outside the U.K. Industry sources say offshore operations around the world are likely to change as a result of the recommendations"

RIP Colleagues

WB

[Alexis]

We should never forget such disasters.

[Messy]

My 1st child (son) was born pretty much simultaneously as the Piper Alpha tragedy unfolded.

We bought and photocopied a copy of the Times newspaper for the day he was born (for a sort of time capsule Mrs Messy insisted on making). Of course the front and inner pages were full of the disaster. I recall reflecting on the different emotions I was feeling compared with the stricken families & loved ones of those who perished were hearing there fate.

A bitter sweet day I will never forget

[Waterbaby]

01/09/2015 : https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/8 ... survivors/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"The boat that played a pivotal role rescuing survivors of the Piper Alpha tragedy is to be scrapped.
The Grampian Venture – which sailed as the Sandhaven at the time of the disaster – will be dismantled this year after 34-years of service.
The standby vessel had been working in the North Sea under Captain Sean Ennis when he responded to the mayday call on July 6 1988........."

WB

[Waterbaby]

https://www.energyvoice.com/opinion/143 ... per-alpha/

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/n ... dy-part-1/

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/n ... dy-part-2/

WB

[Alexis]

Always.

[ddlh]

I remember the tragedy well and have friends who were involved in the attempted rescue from the Tharus - a stand by vessel - who tried to fire up all its fire fighting cannons at the same time - and tripped their fire pumps due to design issues!!

The Piper disaster was due to lack of "management of change" in that it was designed for crude oil only - and was then modified to take massive volumes of natural gas. Systems were not designed for this.

The Zeebrugga ferry disaster was down to design change - went from a 2 tier loading system to flooding tanks to reduce the ship height to allow the top tier to be loaded from the bottom tier loading height.

Many accidents happen due to a change in circumstances that is not "managed".

Tower fires - down to changes to cladding to make them look nice - and I can go on.

I recently carried out an audit on oil and chemical company who just changed the chemical storage from one tank to another - and when I asked if they had verified the new tank storage integrity regarding the specific gravity of the new chemical - they did not know!

H&S professionals - changes from the original design parameters is a major risk in our world. Managers want to change things - but we must ensure that the change is managed and re certified from competent systems.


Dave

[EagleBeagle]

Always. It happened before my time (showing my youth) but when I started out in health and safety I learned of it and the story has always stuck with me given the enormous human cost. While it's not an everyday situation, it also exemplifies on a grand scale for me the cost of getting it wrong.

Last year I bought and read Fire in the Night: The Piper Alpha Disaster by Stephen McGinty. I would classify it as a must read for every safety professional who wants to know more about the disaster in detail, the personalities, the environment, the permits, the detail of the accident, and the emergency rescue and the human aftermath.

There are so many heroes from that night that are still living with it everyday. The disaster scattered them around the world and left them in an understandable difficulty from the worst psychological trauma I think it's possible for a human being to experience. Gareth Parry-Davies was a diver who featured prominently and ended up a few hours down the road from my neck of the woods in Ireland until his untimely death in 2015.

RIP to all those who died and good wishes to those survivors who continue to live with the shadow of that awful night.

[witsd]

I was reading about the Byford Dolphin diving bell incident yesterday, and it certainly gave me a new level of respect for the people who work on rigs, along with all the dangers such work encompasses.

I would have been 6 when the Piper Alpha incident occurred, only learning about it far more recently. Terrible stuff, and I hope there will be something appropriate done next year for the 30th anniversary.

[Dodds]

Being from Aberdeen this was a horrendous day for us. I know two people who were on it, one died, one survived.
I was only 12 but can still remember the helicopters flying in constantly that night.

RIP