A fatal explosion on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico almost two years ago has been put down to a failure of basic safety management practices, says the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) in its report on the tragedy, released on Friday.
The explosion occurred on November 20, 2014 on the West Delta Block 105 Platform E operated by Houston-based Fieldwood Energy in shallow waters about 12 miles off the Louisiana coast.
The blast happened in the electrostatic heater treater and it resulted in the death of Jerrel Hancock, a Turnkey Cleaning Services supervisor contracted by Fieldwood. Hancock was part of a cleaning crew who were cleaning the vessel at the time.
BSEE’s five-person panel found that: the partially drained heater treater contained flammable vapours; that there were inadequacies in electrical isolation and verification of that isolation; and there was ineffective ventilation and air monitoring.
Also, a job safety analysis did not align with the cleaning procedures nor did it assess the hazards involved with the equipment the cleaners had to work on.
