Deepwater Horizon alarms were switched off 'to help workers sleep'

[Octafish]

So someone could sleep. Always, the tyrant blames the little guy.

Deepwater Horizon alarms were switched off 'to help workers sleep'

Alarms and safety mechanisms on gulf disaster oil rig were disabled, chief technician at Transocean reveals

Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk
Friday 23 July 2010 19.54 BST Article history

Vital warning systems on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig were switched off at the time of the explosion in order to spare workers being woken by false alarms, a federal investigation has heard.

The revelation that alarm systems on the rig at the centre of the disaster were disabled – and that key safety mechanisms had also consciously been switched off – came in testimony by a chief technician working for Transocean, the drilling company that owned the rig.

Mike Williams, who was in charge of maintaining the rig's electronic systems, was giving evidence to the federal panel in New Orleans that is investigating the cause of the disaster on 20 April, which killed 11 people.

Williams told the hearing today that no alarms went off on the day of the explosion because they had been "inhibited". Sensors monitoring conditions on the rig and in the Macondo oil well beneath it were still working, but the computer had been instructed not to trigger any alarms in case of adverse readings.

Both visual and sound alarms should have gone off in the case of sensors detecting fire or dangerous levels of combustible or toxic gases.

CONTINUED...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/23/deepwater-horizon-oil-rig-alarms

Most importantly: 11 are not asleep.

[hedgehog]

1. There was a similar news item a few days back about the

Massey coal mine disaster: There was a device that shut down machinery when the level of methane reached a certain point. After the machinery shut down a couple time, an electrician was given an order to by-pass the shut-off.

I worked at a plant where two people were killed. I know the machinery that killed one guy should have been shut down while he was working on a repair; I know that when I supervised the area the machinery was shut down while this repair was made. It was in an old plant with no way to do lock-out/tagout. I took care of the problem by standing in the pulpit next to the operator until everyone cleared the hazard zone. So a man died because no one hit the "off" switch. From what I know of the other accident, which by the way took out a $3 million investment, there was an explosion because someone put an over-ride on the safeties to speed up the cycle time.

Most industrial processes have redundant safeties built in. People get hurt and die when the safeties are eliminated, one by one.

[Octafish]

3. Bypass

hedgehog, you possess what many, if not most, people in authority lack: Integrity. You put safety ahead of profits. Too many today consider people as things -- disposable fodder units.

People who have never worked in a factory or never known a person who has worked in a dangerous place have no clue. My neighbor retired last year from General Motors, having spent 28 years as an electrician.

To keep machines operating, including a press two blocks long, he'd have to climb, dangle, reach in, hold on to, be held by, and every other way, get to the source of the problem. He says he is lucky -- only a couple of minor operations and two major ones on his ankle and neck from spending years balanced on step ladders.

No one was hurt under his watch, several people died in his plant, including a couple of guys crushed to death inside a hopper. Those accidents took human lives and they left families destroyed.

Thank you for being who you are, hedgehog. It is very possible that people are alive today who may not be, were someone other than you in charge of the unsafe machinery.

[spanone]

2. dear bp, 11 of them will never wake up.

great job

:sarcasm:

[Octafish]

4. BP is good at one thing...

Coast Guard "Safety Zones" Keep Media Away From BP Disaster Sites

...BP has shown no shame over the past few months in keeping reporters away from oil disaster sites with both local police and hired mercenaries. But up until now, the Coast Guard has made a pointed effort to separate itself from BP's policies--in late May, Lieutenant Commander Chris O'Neill, the Chief of Media Relations for the U.S. Coast Guard, told us that BP's threats to arrest crews venturing too close to oil-covered beaches aren't "reflective of policy for media access to the spill site or spill mitigation efforts." Apparently, that policy has changed with a Coast Guard rule establishing a 65-foot "safety zone" surrounding oil disaster boom operations and response efforts taking place in Southeast Louisiana. Violators face a $40,000 civil penalty, and willful violations can result in a class D felony. And the policy applies to the media...

Even in the best of circumstances today, Corporate McPravda sure aren't acting as the Constitutionally mandated watchdogs they're supposed to be. We can rest eternally, assured the Government of the United States is keeping them honest.

:sarcasm: