Piper Alpha inquiry chairman Lord Cullen is to discuss safety challenges facing oil and gas leaders at an event this summer.
He will give the keynote address at a conference just before the 25th anniversary of the 1988 disaster, in which 167 people died after fires and explosions blew apart the North Sea installation operated by Occidental.
The Piper 25 event – at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre from Tuesday, June 18, to Thursday, June 20 – will review how far offshore safety has come since the world’s worst offshore disaster.
Lord Cullen published his report into the tragedy in 1990 and is expected to talk about the approach he took to the investigation, plus the challenges for leaders today in turning safety aspirations into reality. He said: “The Piper Alpha disaster led to changes in the framework within which offshore safety requires to be managed.
“But the achievement of safety is critically dependent on leadership in its management and on motivation of the workforce, and thereby a positive and learning culture.”
Oil and Gas UK health and safety director Robert Paterson said: “There is no doubt Piper Alpha was a wake-up call for the oil and gas industry and the public inquiry which followed helped steer the industry on a path of continuous improvement.”
Lord Cullen’s report made 106 recommendations which have transformed the way safety is managed offshore. Mr Paterson added: “I hope the Piper 25 conference will not only be an opportunity to remind ourselves of this tragedy and how far we’ve come but to galvanise our resolve to keep on improving and to ensure a disaster like Piper Alpha can never happen again.”
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