Importance of Preventing Accidents
Prepare a short paper to explain the key risk management features of the safety case regime in reducing the risk of major accidents and describe how its application may have prevented the Piper Alpha Oil & Gas Platform Explosion in 1988.
Safety management is fundamental in reducing accidents from occurring. According to Shahid & Mohd (2017), safety management entails controlling all elements that are likely to trigger catastrophes during production, storage or transportation of products. It includes objectives, policies, organization plans, producers, responsibilities and other measures.
From the Piper Alpha oil and gas platform explosion in 1988, a lot would have been done to protect the risk from occurring because the primary reason that triggered this accident was ignorance. Brian (2017) asserts that preventing accidents is fundamental because it aids in assisting organizations to overcome extra costs in compensating the affected, paying fines as per the legal requirement, losing products and assets and so forth.
According to Singh (2013), risk management is one of the major factors that every business should consider in its operations. The key aspects of risk management in businesses comprise ensuring all relevant dangers are taken into account, through checking the efficiency of the safety strategies adopted, documenting the results of the assessment, and reviewing the assessment from time to time to keep it up-to-date.
For proper management of risks, it is fundamental for the company to identify the potential risks that are likely to occur to determine the best prevention measures (Tanya et al., 2014). To identify the possible hazards, it is advisable to conduct a risk assessment in all departments. The process should be undertaken from time to time because dangers continue to emerge and failing to repeat the process may make the company to be exposed to risks without being aware.
After identifying the risks, the management should document them so that it can be able to find out those that require more attention depending on the company’s capabilities. William (2013) states that organizations may be exposed to many dangers which may have varying degrees of destruction, and therefore identifying those that require immediate action is fundamental because it prevents huge losses.
One of the measures which a company can adopt in preventing risks include fostering a safety culture. According to Mihaela-Lavinia (2017), this type of culture entails the attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and values that workers have in relation to safety in their organizations. Safety culture can be enhanced in organizations by operating based on four cornerstones namely: accountability, discretionary effort, leading indicators, and positive relationships.
Identification of Risks and Risk Assessment
Conducting safety audit from time to time is also one of the effective ways of managing risks in an organization. According to Susanne (2013), this technique can be defined as a structured procedure whereby information related to effectiveness, efficiency, and reliability of the risk management in a company is collected, analyzed and preventive measures suggested. This process is fundamental in risk management because it provides means of identifying the potential risks before they have an impact to the business. It also assists the management to evaluate the available preventive measures to come up with the one which promises maximum protection.
Following rules and regulations is also an effective way of reducing risks in an organization. According to Jonathan & Leigh (2012), one of the causes of accidents in organizations is lack of rules or regulations which can guide the staff members to do the right thing. Rules and regulations play a significant role in making the staff members to engage in right activities and there play a significant role in reducing risks.
Allowing proper work-life balance is also fundamental in reducing risks in organizations. William (2013) affirms that for employees to have proper concentration in the activities they undertake, they should have enough time to rest. For this reason, an organization should have a sufficient number of employees so that they can be able to work in Shifts. When a person overworks or works under stress, the chances of not doing the right things are always high, and this could lead to accidents related to that of Piper Alpha
Organizations should undertake repair and Maintainance of equipment from time to time. William (2013) asserts that some of the machines are dangerous when faulty and therefore for organizations to minimize the risks that may arise from such machines, it is essential to check their functionality from time to time and repair them. If a machine cannot be repaired, it is advisable to replace it with a new one.
According to Smith (2010), incompetence is among the primary causes of risks in organizations. When staff members lack the required skills of undertaking a particular task, they may end up guessing things and trigger accidents which may affect not only other staff members but also other stakeholders. To minimize the chances of accidents arising due to unskilled staff members, it is advisable to recruit qualified people and train them from time to time. The training should include various risk management measures such as how to avoid accidents, how to assist those in dangers, and so forth.
Measures to Prevent Risks and Foster Safety Culture
Understanding each person’s responsibilities is also one of the key features of managing risks. Nadia (2017) defines responsibility as understanding what role one should play. Lack of knowing each one’s responsibilities in workplace triggers risks because some things remain underdone, or are done by the wrong people. To minimize risks, it is essential for organizations to define each person’s responsibilities while recruiting new employees. It is also fundamental to question when one does not execute his/her responsibilities in the manner it should be accomplished.
Job coordination is also fundamental in reducing risks in organizations especially those that deal with products that can put human life into danger. When people change shifts, they should inform the next team what they had done. This helps in assisting the next shift to understand how they are going to undertake the duties in a manner which can aid in minimizing risks. According to Leeanne (2012), sometimes risks in organizations arise due to change of procedures. Therefore, when changing shifts, employees should inform their colleagues what they had done, and how they felt the next steps should be carried out.
According to Leilanie (2011), conducting drills in workplaces also plays a crucial role in the management of risks. The drills, in this case, should include various things such as how to avoid risks, how to evacuate people who are venerable to dangers, and how to report hazards before they occur. They should also teach them how to stop a risk, like for example, how to use a fire extinguisher to put off fire and so forth.
When dealing with dangerous products like for example, those that are highly flammable or explosive, it is advisable to ensure the right procedures are used to produce them (Peter, 2017). It is also vital to ensure they are properly stored and transported. If for example, the products are highly flammable, the management should ensure they are stored in a place where any form of ignition does not exist. Some of the accidents are caused due to negligence in transportation and storage of products and therefore using this strategy in risk management can play a significant role in ensuring no accident arises.
The alpha accident is one of the tragedies that would have been prevented if various measures were put in place. This accident occurred in 1988 killing 167 people including two crewmen of a rescue vessel. The reason that makes it right to argue that this accident would have been prevented is that it was triggered by negligence.
Job Coordination and Drills in the Workplace
If the discussed measures were put in place, this accident would not have occurred. For example, if there were proper repair and regular checking of the equipment, this accident would have been avoided. This is because one of the factors that triggered it is failing to tighten the nuts to prevent leaking under pressure. If the management encouraged regular checking of the machines and transportation equipment, this problem would have been identified and rectified. Lack of proper repair and Maintainance was also the reason that made the occidental firefighting vessel Tharos to fail not function in the right manner. If it was in the right condition, it would have functioned without being restarted from time to time.
Using proper work-life balance would have also played a role in minimizing accidents in this company (Hampton, 2015). Letting the products to be handled by people who had worked for long hours was not advisable because they were hazardous to not only human beings but also to aquatic life. When one is tired, concentration to tasks becomes low, and this may make the person do things that may result in accidents.
The other reason that caused this accident was lack of coordination. As stated in the prevision discussion, if the company had proper coordination which involved informing the next shift concerning what had been done by the team that was signing out, this accident would have been avoided. When the pressure safety valve on pump A was removed, the team which was signing out was supposed to use proper means of informing the next team concerning what had been done. The team that was signing out also failed to take safety measures because they replaced the valve with an ill-fitting metal disc. This would have been prevented by establishing safety rules and regulations to make the staff members understand that they were accountable for whatever they did.
Training on safety measures could have also played a significant role in minimizing risks in this case (George, 2013). This would have assisted the two men who tried to access the dulge system to activate it to understand that when accidents occur, it is advisable not to go in the places where it is highly dangerous irrespective of what is stored there. The two men thought activating this system would aid in stopping any risk that would arise, but this resulted to being the end of their lives. Training would have also assisted the casualties to understand how they could evacuate themselves and their colleagues from the danger. From the case, those from the accommodation block who had survived did not consider the little safety training they had been given. Some made their way under the rig and finally jumped the ten storey into the sea. Some survived, while others did not. If the company had provided proper training, these people would have employed best strategies for evacuating themselves, and this would have reduced the number of casualties.
Procedures for the Production, Storage, and Transportation of Dangerous Products
Hiring qualified people and ones who know their responsibility could have also reduced the chances of this accident from occurring (Peter, 2017). One of the reasons that triggered this accident is incompetence and lack of taking one’s responsibility seriously. This shown by taking off a safety valve and replacing it with something that would put human life in danger. Such action shows that the person did not know what he was doing due to either incompetence or ignorance. When hiring employees, companies should identify their skills, experience and their knowledge concerning safety measures to prevent accidents which arise due to lack of knowledge.
Conclusion
Risk prevention features play a significant role in minimizing the impacts that organizations realize due to accidents. Some of the risk management features comprise training employees concerning various ways of risk prevention and how to evacuate themselves and their colleagues when accidents arise. This measure would have played a key role in assisting the Piper Alpha oil & gas explosion casualties in understanding how they can evacuate themselves from the danger.
The other risk management features that can play a crucial role in reducing risks include establishing rules and regulations, having a program that makes employees to have proper work-life balance, conducting drills, job coordination and understanding the responsibilities of each person. Other risk management features that may aid in reducing major accidents include adopting safety culture and conducting safety audit from time to time.
To prevent the Piper Alpha Oil & Gas Platform Explosion in 1988, the management should have informed the employees concerning the implications of negligence, employ people who know the importance of following the right procedures when conducting all tasks and repairing machines from time to time. The company would have also prevented this accident by fostering proper coordination and communication.
References
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Georges, D. (2013). Risk Management: History, Definition, and Critique. Risk Management and Insurance Review, 16(2), 54-68.
Hampton, J. J. (2015). Fundamentals of Enterprise Risk Management: How Top Companies Assess Risk, Manage Exposure, and Seize Opportunity. New York: American Management Association
Jonathan, B & Leigh, T. (2012). Returning Dignity to Labour: Workplace Safety as a Human Right. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations (Online), 37(1), 25-38.
Leeanne, T. (2012). New Zealand and the Proposed Australian Model Workplace Health and Safety Act. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations (Online), 37(1), 56-78.
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Mihaela-Lavinia, C. (2017). Health and Safety at Work – a Fundamental Right of All Participants in the Labor Process. Economics, Management, and Financial Markets, 12(2), 124-135.
Nadia, D. (2017). A New Paradigm for Occupational Health and Safety: Is It Time to Abandon Experience-Rating Once and for All? New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations (Online), 42(1), 87-101.
Peter, Y. C. (2017). Public Risk Management: Tome 1: Perspective of Theory and Practice. Journal of Economics & Management, 30, 50-69.
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Singh, S. V. (2013). Strategic Human Resource Management: A Reality Check. Review of Management, 3(1/2), 58-78.
Smith, R. J. (2010). Risky Business: Neoliberalism and Workplace Safety in Wyoming Coal Mines. Human Organization, 69(4), 68-98.
Susanne, B. (2013). Transformational Leaders? The Pivotal Role That Supervisors Play in Safety Culture. International Journal of Training Research, 11(1), 145-167.
Tanya, B., Alan., H & Eloy, R. (2014). Claiming Rights to Workplace Safety: Latin American Immigrant Workers in Southwestern Ontario. Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal, 46(3), 89-96.
William, W. (2013). Legal Issues for HR Professionals: Workplace Investigations. Public Personnel Management, 42(1), 145-168.
William, W. J. (2013). Using Workplace Safety and Health Data for Injury Prevention. Monthly Labor Review, 136(10), 56-78.
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