Gas leak fine triggers HSE crackdown on offshore safety
7 Apr 2000
A gas leak on an offshore platform is set to cost BG Exploration and Production £300,000 in fines - the largest penalty imposed on an offshore operator in an HSE prosecution. The company was also ordered to pay almost £200 000 in costs.
The prosecution stemmed from an incident on the Rough 47/3B platform in 1998. During routine maintenance, a large volume of natural gas escaped from a leaking pipework joint that had been isolated from the rest of the plant. The HSE identified `management shortcomings' in the way that the joint had been installed and leak tested, and in the way that the incident was handled after the release. Moreover, BG did not inform the HSE about the incident.
Nobody was hurt, but the HSE argued that, if the gas had ignited, the consequences could have been lethal. `We are particularly concerned about the potential consequences of large releases of gas or oil offshore - the Piper Alpha disaster was a tragic illustration of what can go wrong,' says David Bainbridge, head of the HSE's offshore division. The HSE will soon begin a drive to improve the prevention and control of offshore hydrocarbon releases, he added.
