Company News
Reports Highlight Importance Of Plug Valve Safety Training
Monday 2nd October 2017
The importance of safe practices, training and regular maintenance of instrumentation equipment has been emphasised by a number of reports in recent weeks, following a serious fire caused by a broken plug valve.
According to reports, a fire broke out at the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge refinery in Louisiana, USA, in November last year when a plug valve malfunctioned, causing a massive fire that injured four workers, highlighting the need for proper training.
The incident occurred during maintenance work - when operators removed the bolts securing pressure-containing equipment to a plug valve, the valve fell apart and released hydrocarbon into the air. The vapour cloud then quickly ignited and injured staff.
An investigation by the US Chemical Safety Board (CBS) found that safety hazard analysis had been lacking and recorded failures across basic elements such as training and organisational control.
The body also said that had all the valves been updated to safer versions - as opposed to the 97 per cent that had been replaced - the fire could have been prevented.
"It is important to remember that good safety practices are good maintenance practices and good business practices," commented CSB chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland.
Investigator Mark Wingard said that staff at the refinery were performing maintenance on malfunctioning plug valve gearboxes without the necessary training or written procedures.
The news comes just weeks before a new report released this week suggests training in controls and instrumentation in the global oil and gas industry is set to grow in the years to 2021. The training market is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 11.37 per cent between 2017 and 2021.
