Engineering news
BP has come close to two ‘potentially lethal accidents’ due to failures in the way the company manages critical engineering information, according to a leaked report from the oil giant.
Analysis of the confidential document handed to Greenpeace’s Energydesk revealed a ‘litany of failures’ in the way BP manages its critical safety information and reporting of incidents at its refineries and oil rigs, which may be increasing the risk of accidents at the oil giant’s plants across the world.
The report found that 80% of those working on engineering information inside BP told researchers that they did not “believe data management was given adequate priority or the resources to be safe, reliable and efficient”.
In addition, the internal investigation found that BP lags behind competitor companies, including Shell, ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Malaysian state oil company, Petronas, in regards to sharing key engineering safety information.
The report goes on to state these failures had brought BP close to two potentially lethal accidents, including one at their chemical plant in Hull, and were costing the firm $180m a year.
Of the 500 recent incidents examined in the report, 15% had poor engineering information as a root cause or contributing factor. The report added that “root causes and contributing factors in the 15% are agreed by sites and central teams to be increasing the probability of incidents.”
The list of failures highlighted in the report ranges from missing blueprints to crucial anti-blowout devices being wrongly installed. It also noted that, in recent years, these have resulted in “repeated near-misses” and at least one serious incident at a major refinery in the USA where an entire unit's oil contents were accidentally flared, violating EPA rules.
The report warned that systems designed to prevent problems are at real risk of leaks or vapour cloud explosions, and that the problem “requires urgent attention.”
Produced in August 2015, the report is based on interviews with more than 150 stakeholders at nine BP sites, identified around 75 incidents caused by mismanagement of engineering information.
University of California, Berkeley professor and former BP consultant Professor Robert Bea analysed the leaked report, and noted many of the issues raised were the same as problems he had identified in BP more than a decade ago.
“It is clear that BP have again failed to act on recommendations and address the issues raised. These failures could have very serious effects on the safety of the refinery operations,” he said.
A spokesperson for BP said: “BP regularly conducts internal assessments in an effort to make improvements to its operations. This particular report focused on potential enhancements to how BP manages engineering data. It is not an analysis of any operational incidents, and any suggestion that this report indicates BP is wavering from its safety commitment is wrong.
“BP is dedicated to continuous safety improvement and is introducing new training programs, deploying innovative technologies, and strengthening its safety culture - all in an effort to provide overlapping layers of protection.
“And it’s working: over the last five years, BP’s safety record has steadily improved. The company’s total number of Tier 1 process safety events - the most consequential events involving an unplanned or uncontrolled release of materials - continues to fall and is below the average for the industry.”
Howevever, Energydesk claimed that from analysis of three previous BP controversies - including the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout - that safety issues and poor information management have long been a concern for the company’s operations.
Greenpeace UK's senior climate adviser Charlie Kronick said: "Nearly seven years have passed since the Deepwater Horizon disaster and BP’s sloppy approach to a crucial aspect of safety hasn’t changed. The same happy-go-lucky attitude that played a role in major accidents in the past is seemingly still reflected in the management of safety information across the oil giant’s operations from rig to refinery.”