Baseline: Recent Episodes
SafetyCulture
We all take risks, in our lives, at work. But what happens when you, or those around you, start to deviate from what is safe, bit by little bit? In 1988 a series of massive explosions destroyed the world's largest offshore oil and gas rig killing 167 men. How could it happen, and what can it teach us about why we take risk? Is the biggest risk now that we've forgotten how simple it is for things to go terribly wrong?
It’s the late eighties and the oil industry is booming. Life’s good. But when you’ve become comfortable dealing with risk, it makes for predictable accidents and it’s easy to forget that if things go wrong, they can go really wrong.
It was a gas leak that started it, like a banshee wail on the production deck. The 18-month long government inquiry set about investigating why Piper was destroyed, but with so many witnesses dead, questions remain over exactly what happened.
When the cameras are gone you can’t see the ripple effect that carries on through the decades after a major accident. Why do some people cope better than others, and should we assess risk not just in terms of the likelihood of accidents but the risk of lasting trauma?
It’s been a long time since Piper exploded: experts are nervous that the industry has forgotten and is on the precipice of another disaster. So, can we ever be sure that the right warnings are getting through and should we all be trying to jumpstart our own chronicunease in order to keep us alive?