BAKEWELL AND DISTRICT PROBUS CLUB LARGE SCALE EXPLOSIONS
- peakadvertiser
- 3d
- 3 min read
When, on the grounds of ‘Health and Safety’, we are prevented from carrying out a course of action, we sometimes complain that such considerations are an infringement of our liberties. However, the need for such legislation was clearly demonstrated at a recent meeting of the Bakewell and District Probus Club when member Tony Fry described three catastrophic industrial accidents which, most probably, would have been avoided had the relevant health and safety laws been in existence at the time or, if those already in force had been observed.
The first of these events described by the speaker was an explosion at a chemical processing plant at Flixborough in North Lincolnshire in 1974. This facility was manufacturing caprolactam – a key ingredient used to make Nylon. The process involved a series of connected steel retorts operating at high temperature and pressure. At the time of the accident, one of these had been found to be inoperable and therefore had been isolated by making a temporary pipework connection between its two neighbouring retorts. On the day of the accident this connection failed, with the result that a huge vapour cloud engulfed the site and ignited with a massive explosion that was felt many miles away and which caused injury and death to dozens of workers at the plant. At the subsequent enquiry it was clear that a number of factors, some relatively minor but whose cumulative effect caused the disaster, were to blame.
For his second example of industrial accidents, Tony turned to the North Sea, in particular the Piper Alpha oil production platform. Here there was an explosion in July 1988, during maintenance work on a gas condensate pump. At the end of their shift, a gang of workers failed to secure a vital piece of equipment on the pump and left instructions to the oncoming shift not to use the pump. However, this warning was not received and the new group of workers switched on the faulty pump, with the result that there was an escape of gas which immediately ignited, engulfing the rig in fire. In the following hours, a series of explosions devastated the rig, which then collapsed into the sea. Altogether, 167 lives were lost on that day. The enquiry into the accident identified numerous failings in maintenance procedures, communication, design and emergency procedures. Again, as in the case of Flixborough, many different factors had combined to disastrous effect.
Finally, the speaker described the causes of an explosion in 2005 at the Buncefield oil storage depot in Hertfordshire. In this case, there was an undetected spillage of petrol from a storage tank while it was being filled. The highly inflammable vapour ignited in a huge explosion which, in its turn, set off a series of further explosions and fires which eventually spread to the entire facility. On this occasion, there was no loss of life but numerous buildings around the site were severely damaged. Once again, the findings of the subsequent enquiry into the fire established that several factors had contributed to the overall disaster.
In conclusion, these three disasters shared many similarities. Working practices had become too familiar, leading to complacency, correct maintenance had not been carried out, suitably skilled and knowledgeable staff were absent, and financial pressures had been allowed to rule over safety.
Further details of the Bakewell and District Probus Club, including reports of earlier meetings, can be found on its website at www.bakewellprobus.org
