MB Petroelum third party fatality

1
Safety Alert
No. 11 June 98

Committed to Safety
Danger of Works Underneath Overhead Power Lines
Background During a recent
management site visit at the Mina Al Fahal tank
farm, the following near miss was identified.
Dumping of material from rockbreaking for
tank 110 had been ongoing underneath live 33 kV
overhead power cables without the
minimum clearance required, putting at risk
personnel and equipment. Last month, a
High Potential Incident occurred in Marmul when a
beam pump being transported on a flat-bed truck
came in contact with a 33 kV overhead line,
tripping C, A and Gathering stations.
Causes of the incident An investigation of the
coastal near miss incident is presently in
progress, but it would appear that the cause is
non compliance with the approved clearance
certificate procedure for work in the vicinity or
passage under overhead lines. This is described
in the HSE Standards Manual, Chapter 11. The
underlying cause is believed to be that
insufficient attention was given to the risks
related to the dump yard activities while
supervision focused on the rock cutting site.
Learning Points and Action to Prevent
Recurrence From the above near miss incident,
the following learning points have been
identified which need urgent attention - The
PDO Responsible Supervisor for the work (and NOT
the Contractor) shall obtain a clearance
certificate from the local PDO Asset Team. The
requirement for a PDO clearance certificate
remains the same, irrespective of whether the
lines belong to a third party (eg MEW). - Where
possible, overhead power lines should be made
DEAD when work is to be carried out beneath
them. If it is not practicable, then strict
precautions shall be enforced whilst work is in
progress. The safety precautions shall be
closely supervised by the Area Operations
Electrical representative who shall ensure
that a minimum vertical safety clearance of 3.5
meters is maintained at all times. - Prior
to starting any work, a full risk assessment of
the activities is required in order to confirm
that hazards identified in the HSE work plan are
correct. Reference to the HSE Standards Manual
content has to be made. - The PDO Responsible
Supervisor shall pay regular visits at site to
get opportunities to identify hazards.