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

[kpete]

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

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.

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

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Ah, so that was it.

Those 11 will sleep forever...

I don't know whether to weep or scream.

[revolution breeze]

2. I say scream and scream loudly.

My daughter's fiance works offshore (thankfully not a deepwater well) but it scares me every time Jacob gets on the helicopter and heads out. I wonder what other modifications have been made that may keep him from returning home.

[frylock]

3. and now they're sleeping with the fishes..

un-be-lievable.

[jillan]

4. I'll have to remember to turn off my smoke alarm tonite before going to bed.

:eyes:

[Arctic Dave]

5. I am not suprised in the least.

I have worked on safety systems in the oil field for close to two decades and I could not even begin to speculate how often this happens. I have showed to many a job site to find out systems are bypassed and the response most of the time is "it was like that when we got on shift".