Fatal Offshore Explosion: Causes, Impacts, and Lessons Learned

This article discusses the causes, impacts, and lessons learned from the fatal offshore explosion that occurred in Black Elk Energy Offshore in 2012 in the Gulf of Mexico. It highlights the dangers of working in offshore oil rig organizations and the importance of adhering to safety policies and procedures.

Running head: FATAL OFFSHORE EXPLOSION 1
Fatal Offshore Explosion
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According to the research, it has been identified that getting employed on an offshore oil
rig organization is quite dangerous as an occupation. Working in an offshore oil rig organization
results in causing various kinds of health and safety issues for the workers and increases the risks
of having severe injuries which includes brain damage and body burn (Zebrowski and Leach,
2014). It has also been found that many people do not survive when such incidents occur. In this
case, the focus is on the fatal explosion on a Black Elk Energy Offshore that took place in 2012
in the Gulf of Mexico.
This Offshore explosion was the most dangerous incident that resulted in affecting many
workers and people leaving around the place of the explosion. In general, these kinds of
incidents are caused by various agents such as:
1) Fires- Oil is highly flammable in nature and which takes only a little spark for the
oil substance to ignite, starting a fire that can endanger employees and the
surroundings as well. It might also start with faulty wiring that further spreads to
other areas of the operation especially when it gets into contact with oil. However,
on the offshore, explosions are caused by spilling oil, using welding, cutting and
grinding tools near flammable substances. Lack of training regarding the process
of handling the oil and gas can result in ignition of fires. Moreover, failing to
follow the safety standards and procedures in the area of operation can also result
in ignition of firing.
2) Blowouts- When there is an increase of pressure on the drill for oil, the pool of oil
which is present in underground gets a blowout. It occurs especially when the
systems used for monitoring purpose gets failed to work which has been required
for controlling the pressure in the wells (Moan 2018). In the research, it has been

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found that the blowouts cause a huge amount of explosions and they are not
considered to be the common agents since there are various other improved
modern equipments present for controlling the pressure.
3) Faulty Equipment- These include power tools that cause sparks, vent systems
that enable a buildup of dangerous fumes and chemicals, broken wiring among
much more. Since workers depend on specialized tools to carry out their duties,
severe injuries can result should the tools fail. Explosions may also take place
when for instance a maintenance operation is not planned or performed.
During the research, it has been found that an oil-drilling which is owned by Black Elk
Energy got exploded in the Mexican Gulf in November 2012. This unfortunate incident took
place just a few days after the settlement of yet another deadly explosion by Deepwater Horizon.
The Black Elk Energy explosion was caused by flammable vapors that were inside the piping.
The vapors got ignited, and the fire started immediately when the workers began to weld one of
the pipes that had not been contained as required and due to which the fire caused an explosion.
The incident took place in the location that is situated almost 17 miles offshore Grand
Isle where 22 workers were reported to be on the platform during the explosion. It caused eleven
severe injuries and three deaths (Uchida 2018). These are the workers who were on duty at the
time of the explosion. Apart from deaths and injuries, the property worth millions of dollars that
also got destroyed in the fire and explosion due to the gas tanks. The Black Elk facility was not a
drilling rig and was not operating in deep water as it is in the case of other facilities. This was an
indication that the potential impacts on the environment were relatively slight as compared to
what has been experienced in other explosions of the similar magnitude (GILBERT 2013). As
far as oil rig damages are concerned, they got extremely damaged due to a heavy explosion

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which is more than the destruction of the company's assets thereby affecting the neighboring
individuals. The level of rig damages experienced in the incident definitely forced the company
to use an extra amount of money for repairing and buying other equipment as well as compensate
all the affected parties.
The Black Elk offshore explosion led to a court trial where several people were convicted
for a criminal offense. Through the court process, a settlement was reached in June 2016 even
though its terms were not released to the public (Beard 2016). The explosion claimed lives of
three people and thus prompted the Attorney’s office to file charges against the company and
other three people involved in the incident. Based on the information from the investigators it has
been found that the incident took place when one of the six contractors was working on the site.
The company was informed about unusual or “hot work” was going to happen in a certain unit
within the platform. In that case, the company was to take appropriate measures to isolate the
unit as required by the safety policies and standards. Therefore, the company was charged with
the negligence and failure to adhere to safety policies and procedures (Berthelsen et al. 2015).
In an effort to show comfort and a sign of remorse to the affected families, Black Elk
Energy Offshore Operations hosted the West Delta 32 charity event for assisting the siblings of
the employees who got injured or lost their lives in the tragedy on the platform’s explosion. The
company conducted a fundraising event through working in collaboration with Oilfield Helping
Hands by hosting sporting activities that helped in raising the funds for the affected victims.
Priority was given to the children of the victims for supporting their education. It has been noted
that the funds were directed for funding the higher education of the victim’s children at a total of
130,000 USD.

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Comments on the incident
Based on the overall investigation it is found that the welding activities resulted in
causing the explosion. It is quite important for every manager of such organizations to notify the
contractors or workers regarding any maintenance activities that can hamper the lives of the
working employees (Eckhoff 2016). In this case, the company was notified, but they ignored the
notice. Secondly, the contractors need to walk around the maintenance areas to familiarize
themselves with the area of work to avoid unnecessary mistakes that can lead to injuries or even
explosions (Halim et al. 2018). Lastly, both contractors and the companies in the oil drilling
industry should offer annual training for their staffs to get appropriate knowledge in handling the
odd situations. General information is also required to be given to the contractors and employees
of offshore oil rig organizations regarding the oil safety policies and procedures.

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References
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industry. Industrial health, 53(3), pp.280-292.
Eckhoff, R.K., 2016. Explosion hazards in the process industries. Gulf Professional Publishing.
GILBERT, D., 2013. 'U.S. Subpoenas Black Elk For Evidence in Fatal Blast', Wall Street
Journal - Eastern Edition, vol. 262, no. 118, p. B2.
Halim, SZ, Janardanan, S, Flechas, T, & Mannan, MS. (2018). 'In search of causes behind
offshore incidents: Fire in offshore oil and gas facilities', Journal of Loss Prevention in the
Process Industries, vol. 54, pp. 254-265.
Moan, T., 2018. Life cycle structural integrity management of offshore structures. Structure and
Infrastructure Engineering, 14(7), pp.911-927.
Uchida, M., 2018. Associations between Sense of Community and Perceived Recovery from the
Deepwater Horizon Explosion.
Zebrowski, E. and Leach, M.Z., 2014. Hydrocarbon hucksters: Lessons from Louisiana on oil,
politics, and environmental justice. Univ. Press of Mississippi.