EV Insights: Energy Voice’s top columns from 2015
Throughout the holiday season Energy Voice will be taking a look back at some of our most read columns from 2015.
Throughout the holiday season Energy Voice will be taking a look back at some of our most read columns from 2015.
I posted this on Linked-In a few months back:
A plaque dedicated to two crewmen who died during the Piper Alpha rescue mission has been saved. Emergency response and rescue vessel Sandhaven was one of the first on the scene of the catastrophic oil rig blaze on July 6, 1988. Six men were rescued by the team, but it was overcome by flames when a second gas line ruptured and crewmen Brian Batchelor and Malcolm Storey died, along with 165 other men. Rig operator Occidental Group later donated a plaque to the Sandhaven as a tribute to the pair.
British war-time comedian Tommy Trinder is widely credited with coining the phrase – “over-fed, over-paid, over-sexed and over here” when referring to American GIs during World War Two.
Funds to help pay for the ongoing maintenance of the North Sea Memorial Garden in Aberdeen that pays tribute to the 167 men who lost their lives in the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster are being handed over today.
The UK Government abandoned plans to invest extra cash in North Sea safety two years before the Piper Alpha disaster – because it was not deemed a priority. Newly-released files show that Margaret Thatcher’s energy secretary highlighted the need to spend more on the sector in 1986. But Peter Walker, the minister at the time, said he had decided against asking the Treasury for any additional money after having “carefully reviewed my priorities”.
With the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster drawing near, the on-going commitment to health and safety is rightly at the forefront of the industry's collective consciousness.
Members of the Piper Alpha inquiry team were reduced to tears by the harrowing and dramatic stories of survival against the odds, it has been revealed.
A reception was held in the Scottish Parliament last night to mark the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster.
The Piper Alpha disaster – still the world’s worst offshore industrial tragedy – changed the lives of the loved ones of all on board and it brought about fundamental changes to the way Scotland’s offshore industry treated the health and safety of its workers, writes Alex Salmond.
As the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster approaches, it provides not only a time to reflect on the terrible tragedy but also an opportunity to look forward, writes David Mundell
The industry needs to keep learning from Piper Alpha to improve safety, agreed key Piper 25 speakers.
It was 24 years ago, almost to the day, when I spent my first night offshore on-board the Tharos support vessel. I had just finished my first shift on Claymore as part of a commissioning squad preparing for first oil post the Piper tragedy. In the days to come I would be caught up in the industrial action that dominated our offshore life and the headlines in 1989.
Hundreds of delegates at Piper 25 were urged to turn words into action yesterday as the conference commemorating observing the Piper Alpha disaster drew to a close.
Aberdeen firm Infotechnics has reported a strong start to 2013, securing new contracts worth more than £750,000.
That was the last time I saw Carl Busse, his curly mop of black hair and a warm, engaging smile that literally did light up the room. On the night of July 6th he and 166 other souls lost their lives in the worst rig disaster of all time. I was lying in bed and listening to the radio when the news of the fire began to unfold.
Offshore workers should take every opportunity to raise concerns they may have over safety, according to a Piper Alpha survivor.
A Piper Alpha survivor has told how he could not resist returning to the rigs - despite the tragic events that saw 167 people killed.
The UK’s potential to become the safest oil and gas sector in the world is second to none, thanks to its unique safety partnership, a senior industry figure has claimed.
The man who led the inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster has told a conference looking at offshore safety that companies must view the bigger picture in protecting staff.
As the Piper 25 conference gets underway in Aberdeen, we hear from key speakers addressing the improvement in offshore safety over the last quarter of a century.
[free] North Sea leaders today paid tribute in Aberdeen to the 167 people who died in the Piper Alpha tragedy, as union bosses raised fears that workers are still scared to raise safety issues.
The safety case, involvement of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the goal-setting regime has stood the UK CS oil and gas industry in good stead from a health and safety perspective since Piper Alpha.
Three questions dominated our thoughts: Who was on the platform, were they still alive and what had gone so terribly wrong?
The Scottish Government has pledged £100,000 to help restore a memorial to the victims of the Piper Alpha disaster to its former glory.