ASSESSMENT OF THE PIPER ALPHA DISASTER

OF JULY 6TH 1988

GROUP D MEMBERS
 AREAS COVERED BY THIS PRESENTATION

OVERVIEW OF THE PIPER ALPHA PLATFORM

OBSERVED HSE PRINCIPLES APPLIED ON PIPER ALPHA.
WHAT WENT WRONG ON PIPER ALPHA?
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BETTER PRACTISE
 THE AIM OF THIS PRESENTATION

THE AIM OF THIS PRESENTATION IS TO REVIEW DETAILS OF

THE SEQUENCE OF CRITICAL EVENTS THAT CULMINATED IN THE
EXPLOSION AND SUBSEQUENT DISASTER RECORDED ON PIPER
ALPHA PLATFORM. THE OBSERVATIONS WILL BE RELATED TO
TOPICS WEVE ENCOUNTERED DURING OUR SHORT PERIOD
OF TRAINING AT THE HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES TRAINING
CENTER.
AN OVERVIEW OF
THE PIPER ALPHA
OIL PLATFORM
 OVERVIEW OF PIPER ALPHA
Piper Alpha is located on
the piper oil field along
the North sea about
176km from the Scottish
city Aberdeen (World
Energy Capital) .
 OVERVIEW OF PIPER ALPHA
By 1988, Piper Alpha
produced about 125,000
Barrels of Crude Oil per
day. It Produced Crude
Oil and gas from 24
wells for delivery to the
Flotta terminal in Orkney.
 OVERVIEW OF PIPER ALPHA

Piper Alpha serviced two

other Platforms. Tartan
and Claymore which used
Piper Alpha as their hub
for gas delivery
 OVERVIEW OF PIPER ALPHA
Crude Oil production on
Piper Alpha reduced with
the installation of a gas
recovery module in 1980.
However the 1988 disaster
recorded gas losses
equivalent to the annual
1976 1980 1988
Gas consumption of the UK 250,000B/D 300,000B/D 125,000B/D
 OVERVIEW OF PIPER ALPHA
As at the time of the
incident, Piper Alpha was
home to 226 workers
onboard the platform.
165 of which perished as
a result of what became
a monumental manmade
disaster on the North sea
 OVERVIEW OF PIPER ALPHA
PIPER ALPHA OIL AND GAS
PLATFORM CONSTRUCTION
IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE
COSTED ABOUT 1,000,000,000 !!!
1 BILLION BRITISH POUNDS
AS AT 1976 WHEN IT BEGAN
OPERATIONS
OBSERVED HSE
PRINCIPLES
ONBOARD THE
PIPER ALPHA
PLATFORM
 OBSERVED HSE PRINCIPLES ONBOARD THE PIPER ALPHA
PLATFORM

USE OF PPE
Piper Alpha Work crew are
observed to wear their
Personal Protective
Equipment on the jobsite.
This follows the OHSR and
industrial best practices
 OBSERVED HSE PRINCIPLES ONBOARD THE PIPER ALPHA
PLATFORM

PRACTISE OF ROUTINE
MAINTENANCE
This constitutes best practise in
equipment safety, and
maintenance of company assets as
stipulated in section 3 of the
factory act of 1990. The picture
(right) shows replacement of
pressure safety valve by blinding
flange during routine maintenance
as practised on Piper Alpha
 OBSERVED HSE PRINCIPLES ONBOARD THE PIPER ALPHA
PLATFORM

Use of safety signs

The Piper Alpha platform was
designed with consideration
of emergency escape
situations. The Emergency
escape sign was vital in
saving the life of Jim
McDonald a Rigger on the
Piper Alpha platform.
 OBSERVED HSE PRINCIPLES ONBOARD THE PIPER ALPHA
PLATFORM

Existence of Muster Point

A place for staff to gather in
the situation of an
emergency. The Piper Alpha
muster point was the
cafeteria on the rig.
Unfortunate circumstances
however prevented execution
of rescue plan.
WHAT WENT
WRONG?
 WHAT WENT WRONG
1. All the alarms were
triggered in module
C the gas
production point
which is likely the
source of the issue.
 WHAT WENT WRONG?
2. The blinding Flange
was loosely
tightened which
caused leaks when
pump A was
activated.
 WHAT WENT WRONG?
3. Explosion ruptured fire walls, spreading debris
across to other modules which incidentally ruptured
another pipe in module B leading to another
explosion.
 WHAT WENT WRONG?
4. There was hesitation by management on Piper Alpha
Platform to shutdown operations completely owing
to fear of revenue loss to the company.
5. Thick smoke reduced visibility and stopped crew
members from being able to navigate the platform
freely.
 WHAT WENT WRONG?

6. Flaming crude oil from module B dripped on lower

deck gratings covered by Divers rubber matting
which sustained the Fires that weakened the pipe
carrying high pressured gas to the Tartan Platform.
This led to a heavy explosion.
7. Main alarm panel was damaged by second
explosion
 WHAT WENT WRONG?
8. The permit to work system at the time was flawed. It
entailed filing PTW documents from different parts
of the rig at separate points. This led to the omission
of the PTW issued on a safety valve for pump A
9. Collapse of the Muster Point into the North sea due
to intensity of the inferno.
RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR BETTER PRACTISE
 RECOMMENDATIONS
1. REGULAR TOOL BOX TALKS HIGHLIGHTING THE CONSEQUENCES OF
NEGLIGENCE.
2. ADOPTION OF POST PIPER ALPHA PTW SYSTEM MODIFICATIONS WHICH
INVOLVES INTRODUCTION OF A PERMIT COORDINATOR AND FACILITIES FOR
PERMITTERY.
3. ADHERENCE TO ORGANISATION EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS WITHOUT
UNDUE CONSIDERATION OF FINANCIAL LOSSES.
4. REGULAR TRAINING OF STAFF ON EMERGENCY, HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
AND DRILLS ON PLATFORMS.
 RECOMMENDATIONS
5. NEW DESIGN AND FURTHER UPGRADE OF PLATFORMS SHOULD PUT INTO
CONSIDERATION THE COMPLETE SEPARATION OF PRODUCTION UNITS FROM
STAFF OPERATIONAL AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS.
6. MUSTER POINTS MUST BE LOCATED AT FURTHEST POINT FROM FLAMMABLE
AREA. THE REGION WITH THE LEAST RISK ON SITE.
7. INSTALLATION OF AUTOMATED ESD (EMERGENCY SHUT DOWN ) SYSTEM IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE OFFSHORE INSTALLATIONS (SAFETY CASE)
REGULATIONS AMENDMENT OF 2005 (UK) WHICH WAS ADOPTED.
8. REGULAR MONITORING OF OFFSHORE INSTALLATIONS BY HEALTH AND SAFETY
EXECUTIVES (HSE).
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
ANY QUESTIONS?