Proforma Safety Blog

Proforma Safety Participates in BP Thunder Horse Undersea Manifold Replacement

Posted by proforma on June 20, 2010  |  No Comments

Proforma Safety’s Chris Hosid is working on the Thunder Horse subsea manifold replacement project; here, depicted is the DC-41 APS manifold recovery.

BP announced in April that it was replacing undersea manifolds serving the platform. This maintenance has been planned for more than a year, is likely to result in a cut in annual production by about 10,000 barrels of oil and gas equivalent per day.

Thunder Horse has a 96 percent rate of “reliability” since starting up June 2008, according to BP’s Thunder Horse deputy operations manager Wissam Al Monthiry in this recent article. subsea manifold failures due to hydrogen embrittlement

Proforma Safety Helps Serimax Achieve Safety Records in Port Fouchon

Posted by proforma on June 20, 2010  |  No Comments

Since October 2008, Serimax Yard in Port Fouchon, LA, and as of June 23, 2010, they’ve achieved a total of 1.36 million man hours without a Loss Time Accident (LTA) or Lost Time Incident (LTI).

API posts new page on website dedicated to Deepwater Horizon and aftermath

Posted by proforma on June 19, 2010  |  No Comments

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has published a new page on its website with information relevant to the Deepwater Horizon and safety standards and practices for the industry. Follow progress with the challenges to the moratorium on the site, environmental impacts, and what’s being done to mitigate them.

Lessons Will Be Learned from the Deepwater Horizon

Posted by proforma on June 6, 2010  |  No Comments

The Deepwater Horizon is a tragedy first and foremost because of the loss of 11 lives, but also because of the continued impact on Gulf of Mexico residents, wildlife, property and businesses, and on the companies, employees and shareholders associated with the spill, including BP, Anadarko Petroleum and Matsui Oil Exploration (minority partners), Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron. All are facing scores of lawsuits for damages and liabilities.

The reputation of BP has sunk precipitously and the affects will be felt by the nation and the energy industry for many years.

Wall Street Journal  reported that “BP made choices over the course of the project that rendered this well more vulnerable to the blowout.”

Shareholders have sued the board of BP Plc for failing to monitor safety and exposing the company to liability.

Some Deepwater Horizon workers said that safety was paramount for BP and Transocean. But two workers have charged the companies with cutting corners on safety and neglecting maintenance in favor of higher profits.

On June 1, global jitters sent the Dow dropping nearly 100 points  upon news the U.S. Government has initiated a criminal probe.

In his 30-Day Safety Report, Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, has called for aggressive new operating standards and safety requirements.

When a Hurricane Meets the Oil Slick

Posted by proforma on June 1, 2010  |  No Comments

NOAA has published its analysis of what will happen if a hurricane enters the Gulf of Mexico in the near future and intersects with the Deepwater Horizon oil slick.

While little can be predicted with any certainty, here’s the “good news”: the hurricane’s size will likely be larger than the current size of the slick, so it should not be significantly impacted. In fact, the hurricane may “weather” the oil, helping the accelerate biodegradation. For full details, click here.

UPS Driver Refused to Drive Unsafe Vehicle

Posted by proforma on June 1, 2010  |  No Comments

A UPS driver was fired after his refusal to drive a truck he reported as unsafe due to inoperable lights on the trailer and tractor. OSHA has ordered United Parcel Service to pay the driver $111,008 in back wages, benefits, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney’s fees. OSHA published details in this release.

How to Make Highway Construction Zones Safer

Posted by proforma on June 1, 2010  |  No Comments

“Doubling fines against motorists through work zones is a glorified version of a roadside speed trap – the tactic is geared toward collecting ticket revenue, but does not address the real safety issues.”

EHS Today dispels two common myths about highway construction projects and increased accidents: (1) that construction workers have the highest risk of serious injury, and (2) that vehicular traffic is the major cause. The truth is that motorists and passengers suffer considerably more fatalities, and better traffic routing through the construction zone would decrease accidents.

OSHA Rule on Hexavalent Chromium Goes into Effect June 15

Posted by proforma on May 29, 2010  |  No Comments

A reminder that as of June 15, OSHA’s direct final rule requiring employers to notify their workers of all hexavalent chromium exposures goes into effect. Go to OSHA’s page on hexavalent chromium here.

Accenture Offers Wireless System to Help Monitor Refinery Safety

Posted by proforma on May 11, 2010  |  No Comments

Marathon Petroleum Co. has announced it will install a wireless gas detection system  at its refinery in Robinson, Ill.
Overcoming the usual difficulties of wireless applications in the dense environment of the refinery, this Accenture system uses a lapel-based wireless four-gas detector and wi-fi tags. It alert workers within the refinery of any gas incidents and will help colleagues outside the plant to find refinery workers. For details, click here.

Deepwater Horizon Incident Underscores Criticality of Drills

Posted by proforma on May 11, 2010  |  No Comments

Just the day prior to the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, the crew of the Damon B. Bankston — the commercial supply boat that rescued the majority of the workers — had conducted a “man overboard” drill, including dropping its motorized rescue boat into the water and taking practice laps to ensure everything was in order.

When the explosions occurred, the Damon B. Bankston was floating alongside the Deepwater Horizon.