Top 10: Process Safety

Shoddy work, materials and management practices were the likely, basic causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, according to BP’s report into the 20 April explosion and fire on the oil rig, which killed 11 people and caused massive pollution in the Gulf of Mexico. “To put it simply, there was a bad cement job and a failure of the shoe track barrier at the bottom of the well, which let hydrocarbons from the reservoir into the production casing,” said Tony Hayward, BP’s outgoing chief executive, who lost his job as a result of the accident. Read more

Poorly managed maintenance activities and procedures raise the risks of workplace accidents, including fatal accidents, involving industrial workers at all levels.Indeed, asset-management firm MCP reports that up to 20% of all workplace accidents in some European countries are linked to maintenance, while in a number of sectors over half of all accidents are maintenance-related. It adds that 10-15% of fatal accidents at work are due to poorly executed maintenance operations. Read more

Risk management specialist, HFL Risk Services, is joining forces with the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) to launch a new benchmarking study into Process Safety Management in the high hazard industries. The programme, which launches in November, will involve a select group of COMAH top-tier sites representative of a cross-section of the chemical industry. Read more

Siemens officials are hopeful that authorities will trace the source of a recent Trojan attack that targeted its products via a previously unknown Windows vulnerability. The malware, which spread via USB sticks, was designed to steal intellectual property from SCADA and process-control systems. Read more

Byres Security Inc. has updated its recommendations for addressing the SCADA-focused Stuxnet software worm, which has been targeted particularly at Siemens PCS7 control systems. The update is in response to the development of a Microsoft patch for the Stuxnet vulnerability. Read more

A recently completed a survey of business decision-makers and key industry workers in the UK oil, gas and petrochemical industries to identify the issues that are still causing the most costly delays for process operators. In the poll, conducted in May 2010, 34% of those surveyed said that valves caused the greatest difficulties. Read more

Bürkert Fluid Control Systems has partnered with biodiesel equipment maker Green Fuels Ltd to provide a complete package of ATEX-rated valves, flow sensors, level switches, positioner systems and conductivity and flow meters. The package for use in UK-based Green Fuels’ latest Fuelmatic system is designed to produce up to 20,000 litres per day of high grade biodiesel. Read more

Questions are being raised over the safety of heat transfer systems used in the process industries. There have been a number of incidents involving heat transfer fluids in the UK recently, reports Heat Transfer Systems (HTS), a company involved in the development of systems to condition thermal fluids as well as in audits, risk assessments and training to support thermal fluid users in meeting safety requirements. Read more

Is corporate memory loss to blame for the recurrence of major accidents?, asks Dr Julian Hought of HFL Risk Services. The world is currently watching BP’s frenzied attempts to stem the flow of oil following a catastrophic explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident cost 11 lives with many more injured, while the environmental damage is escalating at an alarming rate. The leak has already surpassed that of the Exxon Valdez in 1989 and could rival the 1979 Itox disaster which, at 140 million gallons, is one of the worst ever oil spills. Read more

Five companies have been ordered to pay £9.5 million for their part in the 2005 fire and explosion at the Buncefield Oil Storage Depot, in Hertfordshire. The ruling included £1.3 million in fines for pollution offences - a record for a single incident in the UK - while a £3-million fine for Total was the second highest to be handed down for safety offences. Read more