ConocoPhillips’ Post

Job Well Done

On March 23, 2005, a series of explosions occurred at the BP Texas City, Texas, refinery during the restarting isomerization unit— killing 15 workers and injuring 180 others. The explosions occurred when a distillation tower flooded with hydrocarbons and was overpressurized, causing a geyser-like release from the vent stack. BP formed the BP U.S. Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel also referred as Banker Panel. Excerpt from the Baker Panel report: “BP has emphasized personal safety in recent years and has achieved significant improvement in personal safety performance but BP did not emphasize process safety. BP mistakenly interpreted improving personal injury rates as an indication of acceptable process safety performance at its U.S. refineries. BP's reliance on this data, combined with an inadequate process safety understanding, created a false sense of confidence that BP was properly addressing process safety risks."

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The Importance of pertinent Pre-Startup Safety Reviews when resuming operation after shutdown and maintenance activities in a hazardous plant. 📣 ⚒ Beyond complying with regulations it can help identify and mitigate hazards, validate critical procedures, enhance your emergency preparedness, facilitate communication and coordination among stakeholders, and support ongoing efforts to improve safety and operational efficiency. 💡 Pro Tip 💡 PSSR is a great opportunity for lessons learned from past incidents or near-misses to be incorporated into startup procedures and practices, that can support a culture of continuous improvement in hazardous plant safety and operations. Exxon owned Gravenchon refinery is fortunate to have not had more damage and injury with the fire incident. https://lnkd.in/dH7YeH8j #pssr #psm #incidentinvestigation #hse #processsafetymanagement

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one of the implications of overturning Chevron deference may be less regulatory capture of government agencies. Typically, when an agency is tasked with creating regulations, it depends heavily on industry stakeholders for input. Over time and political cycles, this leads to revolving door between regulated industry and agency appointments and hires.

Currently, numerous emergency crews are responding to a large power outage at the BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The outage has prompted employees to evacuate of the refinery, with heavy flare activity observed. Reports indicate multiple streets near the refinery have been shut down. Officials state that this restoration process could take several hours. Additional smoke and flames are expected as a precautionary measure to burn off products smoke and flames can be seen miles away Could be an accident or event in a larger set of patterned events. So how would you know? How well do you connect dots in an accurate manner with evidence based verification? Here is a good exercise for you. Othniel Max Daves

Fire and explosion occurrd on March 23, 2005, at the BP Texas City refinery. It was a result of a catastrophic failure during the startup of the isomerization (isom) unit. The incident was one of the most severe industrial disasters in the U.S., killing 15 workers and injuring over 180 others. Key findings from the investigation: 1. Overfilling of the Unit: During the startup process, a distillation tower in the isom unit was overfilled with hydrocarbons. This was followed by a malfunction that caused the release of a large quantity of flammable liquid into the atmosphere. 2. Vapor Cloud Formation: The flammable liquid formed a vapor cloud that spread across the area. When an ignition source was encountered, the vapor cloud exploded. 3. Failure of Safety Systems: The investigation revealed multiple failures in the safety management systems. Alarm systems did not function properly, and safety controls, such as proper procedures for startup, were inadequate. 4. Human Error: There were significant issues related to human factors, such as inadequate training of operators, lack of supervision during the startup, and failure to recognize hazards. 5. Cost-Cutting and Organizational Failures: The report highlighted BP's history of cost-cutting measures that reduced funding for maintenance and safety improvements at the refinery. This created a dangerous operating environment with outdated equipment and insufficient safety culture. 6. Outdated Equipment: The equipment used in the isom unit was outdated, and critical safety instrumentation that could have prevented the accident was either not installed or not functioning. 7. Flammable Materials Near Trailers: Many of the workers who died were located in trailers positioned too close to hazardous operations, which was a violation of standard safety practices. Investigative bodies emphasized the need for systemic improvements in BP's safety culture and management practices to prevent such incidents in the future. The disaster led to reforms within the industry, with BP being fined and facing numerous lawsuits. #incident #accident #fire #explosion #investigation #oil #gas #refinery #learning

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