Sheila Schulmeyer CAS February 12, 2012 Permian Basin STEPS

Agenda Carbon Monoxide BP Industry Alert Injury and fatality Update

Carbon Monoxide Quickcards Available in both English and Spanish.

Carbon Monoxide Remind employers during cold weather, to take pre- Cautions to protect workers from serious and sometimes Fatal, effects of carbon monoxide exposure. Make sure there is adequate ventilation when using fuel burning tools and equipment in buildings or semi-enclosed Spaces. Sources of carbon monoxide poisoning in the workplace Can include anything that uses combustion to operate, such as gas generators, power tools, compressors, pumps, wielding equipment, space heaters and furnaces.

Ways to prevent Carbon Monoxide Adequate ventilation Carbon monoxide detectors Avoid using potential carbon monoxide producing equipment in enclosed or semi-enclosed spaces. Use the precaution’s outlined in OSHA’s Carbon Monoxide Fact sheets and Quick Cards.

Industry Safety Alert from BP Incident: On June 25 th, 2012, while preparing for a pipeline inspection using an in-line inspection tool (known as a pig), a temporary pig launcher that was attached to a pipeline was over-pressured and failed, killing one employee and injuring two others.

What went wrong –Team assumed all valves were in the proper position –Team did not realize that “trip valve” between the launcher and pipeline had been left closed –No pressure relief valve on the pig launcher –When pressure was applied, the 100 psi gauge swung around to the zero stop instantly causing the team to mistakenly read the gauge at zero where they called for more pressure. –Within about 2 minutes the pig launcher burst and the pressure release killed one employee and –Injured two more.

What they learned During design avoid the use of temporary equipment that would exceed plant safe operating limits Or utilize HAZOP to identify mechanical and instrumented systems to reliably prevent design limits from being exceeded. If equipment has the capacity to exceed safe operating limits, it should have a pressure trip or relief valve. If not, it should be assessed by an engineer to identify controls or systems to prevent limits from being exceeded.

What they learned (cont) –Utilize an appropriately designed method for monitoring system pressure during the design phase of the operation taking into consideration the potential range of pressures (e.g. a remote digital monitoring system) –Develop a common communication system to be practiced and used by key team members in noisy environments. –Written procedures need to clearly identify all critical steps and valve positions, and identify potential errors in each step using a checklist.

Conclusion Industry data shows that a significant percentage of incidents in the oil and gas exploration and production industry are related to equipment over- pressure or unplanned pressure releases. Routine and recurring tasks which involve pressure can have serious consequences if hazards are not fully identified, evaluated and properly mitigated. In sharing the incident, BP hopes that everyone will consider how this scenario might apply to your work.

OSHA Update –Two more fatalities since last STEPS meeting in January: – An employee of a pipe supply company that sells pipe, storage tanks, etc., to the petroleum industry was caught between a large tank and the trailer it was being loaded onto. –An employee of a maintenance (self-help organizational type company) was working along an access road off of I-10 and was struck by a hit and run driver.

OSHA Update (cont) Another fatality was called in over the weekend in Pampa, TX area. No information at this time, but it wasn’t an oilfield accident.

Interesting information found in OSHA CLIPS (available only to OSHA staff)

Story in Houston Chronicle February 10, 2013, a story came out in the Houston Chronicle.

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