The oil and gas sector not only uses flammable and combustible components during development, but the finished product also poses a fire and explosion risk. Even minor errors can have serious effects not only for people and their workplace, but also for life and property in the surrounding area, and even entire ecosystems.
Reducing the danger of fire and explosion in the oil and gas industry necessitates a comprehensive examination of your operations, particularly your chemical safety strategy. Consider these three ways to help you assess your fire and explosion risks and manage oil and gas chemicals more effectively.
#1 Keep your fire and explosion risk management plan up to date
Traditional chemical risk management plans are insufficient to avoid fires and explosions at petrochemical refinery plants or oil and gas fields. Fires and explosions in the oil and gas industry are system-wide catastrophes that must be addressed.
A chemical fire and explosion strategy must address not just the chemical itself, but also any electrical, mechanical, or human concerns that may result in a fire. Furthermore, the risk management plan must aim to recognise conditions that could lead to an explosion or fire as early as possible. These may include of a number of operations such as inspections as well as technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS), heat detectors, and flame detectors.
#2 Actively Engage in Fire and Rescue Authority Operations
Your Fire and Rescue Authority will be trained to respond to incidents at or close to oil and gas facilities, as well as in locations with petrochemicals and their by-products. They can use on both their own custom risk assessments and local, in-depth risk assessments when preparing for and responding to incidents. However, none of this work should ever be done in isolation.
Working as closely as you can with your local Fire and Rescue Authority division is crucial. Find out more about their unique risk management strategy. Plans for mutual aid, where oil and gas corporations support Fire and Rescue Authority activities, are also very helpful in giving emergency responders access to the right tools and training for handling emergency situations.
#3 Examine the storage of oil and gas chemicals
With fires having such disastrous effects on the oil & gas industry and its surrounding environment, the time to assess chemical storage alternatives is now. Chemical spills or odours in storage rooms might create a threat that goes undiscovered until it’s too late.
Storing hazardous chemicals at gas and oil wells and refinery plants is difficult due to the chemical composition and local environmental conditions. Customer storage that takes into consideration the chemical, use, and other important components such pumps and drains is therefore a must for this industry.
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