Posted by proforma on January 18, 2012 | No Comments
This MODU life boat launch drill turned deadly when the MODU plunged 60 feet into the water, killing one and injuring six. This video appeared on the Drilling Ahead World Oilfield Network.
Tags:accident, fatality, offshore GOM, oilfield worker
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
Posted by proforma on November 21, 2011 | No Comments
While we don’t want to sound Scrooge-like, have you considered the downside of hosting a holiday company event or party where alcohol is served? Read this informative article so that you can better inform your company as safety manager and suggest solutions. Employers are considered to have more influence or control over their employees’ drinking at company parties than you might suspect. A major case (that found the employer liable and withstood appeal) shows how employers can be found liable if:
» Employees are told that the event will benefit the business;
» The company paid costs for the event, including drinks;
» Travel expenses may be covered;
» Employees are encouraged to entertain clients and buy them drinks; and
» The employee leaves the event by himself, although there may be of impairment.
Tags:fatality
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
Posted by proforma on September 27, 2011 | No Comments
After a completions rig crew had installed a set of flags to the rig sand line, the perator reached into the drum area to help retrieve a pipe wrench for one of the rig floor crewmen. His stomach came in contact with and engaged the sand-line drum clutch lever, resulting in the drum turning several revolutions and killing one of the rig crewmen. For details, click on this report.
Tags:fatality
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
Posted by proforma on July 1, 2010 | No Comments
A floorman was struck in the abdomen by either the drill pipe or winch wire and later died of his injuries. In this report, the cause was attributed to a number of factors, including poor communication, lack of competency and inadequate risk assessment.
Tags:accident, fatality, oilfield worker, Workplace Safety
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
Posted by proforma on June 30, 2010 | No Comments
The Chemical Safety Board has issued 18 recommendations to OSHA, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and other agencies that are intended to prevent explosions and fires resulting from using fuel gas to clean or purge gas pipes. These recommendations evolved from its investigations into the Kleen Energy plant explosion and the ConAgra Foods plant explosion. Both explosions were attributed to natural gas released during the installation and commissioning of new piping.
CBS recommends that OSHA pass regulations prohibiting the use of natural gas for pipe cleaning and the venting or purging of fuel gas indoors. IN addition, it urges OSHA to require companies to provide workers and contractors with appropriate procedures and training.
See this moving video put out by the Chemical Safety Board on the Dangers of Hot Work.
Tags:accident, Add new tag, explosion, fatality, Fire, OSHA, training, Workplace Safety
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
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.
Tags:accident, fatality, Fire, offshore GOM
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
Posted by proforma on March 30, 2010 | No Comments
On February 7, 2008, at about 7:15 p.m., something ignited sugar dust in Imperial’s refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, resulting in blasts and subsequent fires that destroyed much of the facility and killed 14 people. This article in the NFPA Journal®,March/April 2010, talks about the tragedy, which the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) described as “entirely preventable.” Poor maintenance, housekeeping, and equipment design were identified as factors in the catastrophe. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported scores of “willful” and “particularly flagrant” safety violations. Imperial Sugar has made the commitment to build a safe, modern packaging facility and the solution has been a system and functional design for the new plant that emphasizes the concepts of separation, isolation, and suppression. At Port Wentworth, this has included relocation of the huge sugar storage silos, more stand-alone buildings, and inclusion of fire walls within buildings. Most important, it’s included a major overhaul to employee attitudes toward safety. Click on the link above for details.
Tags:accident, explosion, fatality, Fire, OSHA, safety, Workplace Safety
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
Posted by proforma on December 8, 2009 | No Comments
A worker was killed by “blunt force trauma” to the head at the Valero refinery in Texas City, Texas, on December 4, 2009, as he and two other workers allegedly were attempting to restart a boiler. The two other workers were injured in the blast. Valero has attributed the accident to a “failure” of the boiler. OSHA is investigating; the Chemical Safety Board has announced it will not open a formal investigation. Current details are available here.
Tags:accident, fatality, OSHA, refinery, Workplace Safety
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
Posted by proforma on August 31, 2009 | No Comments
A fatality occured recently on a Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) during a planned lifeboat drill.
The MODU was conducting routine testing of its lifeboats and equipment as required by regulation and launched its starboard lifeboat with a crew of seven. During recover of the lifeboat at the end of the drill, the aft hook opened, the boat swung onto its forward hook, which then failed, plunging the lifeboat and its occupants 65 feet into the sea. One crew member died and the remaining six sustained injuries.
Among the causes, it was determined that critical components of the system had deteriorated with age and use and the On-Load release system was not fully understood. For details, read the IADC report.
Tags:accident, fatality, offshore GOM, safety, Workplace Safety
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
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