Evaluation of accidents and incidents in the offshore oil and gas industry by use of Safety barrier performance diagrams

The Safety barrier performance diagram is a recently developed tool that can be used in accident and incident investigations. The methodology is presented in a parallel paper to the conference. This paper presents experience with such diagrams based on analysis of historical accidents and incidents in the offshore oil and gas industry. Investigation reports from a number of ignited and unignited topside hydrocarbon releases at offshore installations in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico have been considered, and the performance of the safety barriers have been studied by use of Safety barrier performance diagrams. The accidents are presented anonymously in the paper. The main focus is on common features of the accidents and incidents, rather than on an individual level. The paper also presents a discussion of the benefits and disadvantages of Safety barrier performance diagrams in general, with the above-mentioned study as a basis.