Overview

The Piper Alpha platform was operated by Occidental Petroleum and began production in 1976. At its peak it was one of the largest producing fields, accounting for roughly 10% of North Sea oil production. On the 6th of July 1988 a series of events occurred that would result in the tragic loss of 167 lives and wide ranging ramifications for the offshore oil and gas industry. From inherent design, permit to work, operational modifications, safety management systems, human factors and emergency response, this event forced the offshore oil and gas industry to critically reassess itself. In 1990 the Cullen Enquiry was published and made 106 recommendations for changes to North Sea safety procedures, among the most pertinent of which was the introduction of the Offshore Safety Case Regulations (1992) and transferring the responsibility of enforcing safety in the North Sea from the Department of Energy to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The Piper Alpha tragedy recently commemorated its 30th anniversary. This SONG talk will remind us of the events of 6th July 1988 and subsequent discussion will address the question of whether offshore safety in the North Sea has improved since then.

Speaker

Professor Stephen Richardson is an Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK. He was educated at Imperial College. After working as a Research Assistant at Cambridge, he was appointed as a Lecturer at Imperial College in 1978 and then promoted through the ranks to Professor in 1994. His principal research interest is safety, specifically the depressurisation of vessels and pipelines, particularly those associated with oil and gas production, and development of the computer program BLOWDOWN, which has since been used in the design of well over 300 installations. In 1996, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Register

Non SONG members must register their attendance in advance by email to song@ichememember.org.

Members not able to attend can join the live presentation over the web. Register for the event >> 

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