PSA - ESREL 2011 paper: Major accidents and their consequences for risk regulation

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to study major accidents in the petroleum industry and their effects on Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) regulatory regimes and industrial actors. Our cases are: Piper Alpha (1988), Texas City refinery (2005), Montara (2009), and Deepwater Horizon (2010) representing accidents of major historical influence or with an assumed high impact on regulatory approaches and industrial actors. In the paper we draw upon theories on HSE regulatory approaches, learning from accidents, safety culture and organizational reliability. Data: Accident investigation reports, other documents and documentaries. The results show changes are being made with regards to regulatory regimes and the organization of safety and energy departments (authority), lessons are tried learnt across industrial sectors and shelves, safety management systems and technological solutions are improved, and higher degree of employee participation and involvement is often called for.