The Buncefield oil depot explosion of 2005 sparked a firm warning from The Health and Safety Executive: companies who fall short of safety standards “will be prosecuted”.
Fines totalling £9 million were handed down to businesses involved in the accident which happened after petrol spilled out from the top of a tank forming a large vapour cloud, which ultimately found an ignition source.
The incident triggered the biggest peacetime explosion ever seen in Europe, but could it have been avoided in the first place?
Speaking in 2010 after the fines were announced, Gordon MacDonald of the HSE guided the conversation towards the need for a preventative approach to safety.
“Incidents like the explosion at Buncefield are exceptionally rare but they should not happen at all”, stated Mr MacDonald from the steps of St Albans Crown Court, adding that “lessons must be learned”.
Similar incidents could be prevented in the future, he said, if companies from the boardroom down ask themselves three key questions?
Let’s take a look:
Safety failures not an option?
The high hazard sector is, for the most part, a safe one. We are to be proud that the majority of companies work hard in partnership regulators, local authorities, neighbours and training providers to ensure the safety of their site, staff and surrounding communities.
As Mr MacDonald stated, such incidents are “exceptionally rare”. But rare doesn’t mean extinct and safety failings do still happen. So what should we do?
Well, the HSE is right: incidents on the magnitude of Buncefield are avoidable if we shift our focus to prevention rather than reaction. Learning from the events which led up to the Buncefield blast means we can create and implement safety strategies designed to avoid recurrences.
Society rightly demands the highest standards from the high hazard industries and this preventative approach must trickle down from the boardroom, to the site manager, to the operator. Prevention is incumbent upon us all.
“The past is behind, learn from it, the future is ahead, prepare for it” – author, Thomas S. Monson
Gordon MacDonald gives the Regulator’s reaction:
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