BP: Still Not Safe!

We recently gave BP credit for exercising some prudent damage control following the major explosion in March that killed 15 people and injured hundreds in Texas City. But when companies are forced to go into damage control mode with any frequency, it cannot bode well for their stability -- or for the safety of their workers. We read in the County News of Galveston TX (the oldest newspaper in that state and worth perusing in and of itself) that the BP plant experienced yet another explosion on July 28. This time, fortunately, no one was hurt.

Wrong Pipe
Members of BP’s engineering staff have already concluded the first part of their incident investigation and have determined that the wrong kind of piping was used. The pipes that had been installed as part of a regular maintenance program, made of carbon steel, were unable to handle the high temperatures in the refinery process. The proper piping requires chromium alloy steel. While it sounds like a simple problem, you cannot tell the difference in the two pipes just by looking at them. In any event, the piping failed, causing flammable material to spill and resulting in an explosion and fire.

Whose mistake?
The wrong pipe was installed by a contractor, La Porte based J.V. Piping. They performed the work under the supervision of BP staff. As with any good accident investigation, you have to keep asking "why"? We know that the wrong piping was used. Why was this piping installed? Were the proper specs provided to the contractor -- or did BP fail to specify the use of chromium alloy steel? Could the BP supervisors overseeing the work have identified the problem? Or is the root cause further upstream, in the procurement process?

Safety: Stand Down or Fall Down?
The article quotes BP spokesman Hugh Depland as saying that the company was conducting a series of “safety stand downs” whereby workers and safety directors meet individually about safety protocols, procedures and checks.

“It’s about looking everybody in the eye and getting a one-on-one commitment to operating safely,” said Depland. “We have had an incident here, an unfortunate incident, (but) we need to stay committed and stay focused to avoid creating a situation (that could result in another incident).”

You can look people in the eye as long as you like, but if you use the wrong materials to construct your refinery process, no safety drill is going to catch it -- and your employees are constantly at risk. Faced with a number of serious incidents over the past months, BP's management has an enormous challenge: operating and at the same time upgrading an aging facility to meet stringent safety standards. They have to make sure that every aspect of their volatile process is engineered properly and that safety procedures are followed every step of the way. I have the sinking feeling that we will see more damage control in the coming months, as BP tries to get a handle on what is clearly a very hazardous and unstable situation.