Published on 03/08/23 730 Views

A massive earthquake measuring magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale occurred triggering a huge tsunami. Ground motion from the earthquake damaged support braces on a Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage sphere. An aftershock caused its support legs to buckle, and the tank collapsed onto a neighbouring pipe track. An uncontrolled LPG release followed which found an unknown ignition source, initiating a major fire. The fire quickly spread to neighbouring LPG tanks causing several consecutive boiling liquid expanding vapour explosions (BLEVEs), eventually destroying all 17 tanks in the LPG tank farm. Burning missiles from the explosions also damaged nearby asphalt tanks, causing a loss of containment and spillage into the sea.

Ask yourself and your crew:

How can something like this happen here (e.g. on our site)?
What safety measures (i.e. procedures, controls/barriers) do we have in place to mitigate the risk?
How do we know the risk controls/barriers are working?
What improvements or changes should we make to the procedures, controls/barriers or the way we work?

Original content courtesy of IChemE Safety Centre