Keeping safe

The energy sector has been relatively safe from serious fire and safety incidents and a Taranaki-based company plans to keep it that way.

“We have had no major extinguishments in the oil and gas industry, though there have been a few in the associated power sectors that were, as expected, very successful because of the stringent systems we have in place,” says Tyco Wormald’s oil industry business development manager Dennis Heath.

“New Zealand has been particularly lucky, both downstream and upstream, that such incidents are very rare – let’s keep it that way.”

Heath says Wormald, part of the United States Tyco Group, has been involved in most oil and gas and power projects in New Zealand for the last 40 years or so and is currently helping a number of companies upgrade their fire safety management and control systems to fully meet the latest requirements of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act.

New regulations were introduced into the HSNO Act during 2005 making certain minimum fire protection requirements mandatory.

“Most companies, organisations and structures are fully compliant but there are still some gaps,” he says.

Recent Wormald contracts have included work on storage facilities for the major oil companies, the Marsden Point oil refinery and for “all the big players in the electricity industry”, particularly regarding control rooms, switching gear and transformers at hydro, geothermal or gas-fired power stations.

“We are definitely interested in bidding to supply fire safety systems at the Stratford gas peaker plant,” adds Heath, referring to the $250 million 200MW power station currently being constructed for Contact Energy.

Wormald has also helped methanol manufacturer Methanex review or upgrade its existing storage facilities at its north Taranaki plants or storage facilities near Port Taranaki, New Plymouth.

Heath says continual fire safety reviews and upgrades are necessary to ensure nothing like the 2005 explosion of the Buncefield oil dept in England, “Europe’s biggest peacetime fire”, ever happens here. There 20 oil storage tanks, each holding several million of litres of fuel, exploded in the early hours of Sunday, December 11, sending flames about 70 metres into the sky, injuring 43 people, two seriously.

The force of the Hertfordshire blast could be heard in different counties over 60 kilometres away and firefighters took almost two weeks to extinguish all oil tank fires.

More than a year later an official report found the explosion was caused by thousands of litres of petrol overflowing a storage tank after automatic monitoring systems broke down. A faulty fuel gauge allowed the

equivalent of five swimming pools full of fuel to flow into the tank, then out of vents at the top. The petrol turned into a flammable vapour cloud as it cascaded down the sides of the tank.

Heath says the Buncefield incident had “a significant effect” on the oil and firefighting industries worldwide and affected the regulations regarding storage and distribution facilities in most major countries.

In the wake of that disaster, many oil companies moved to improve their fire prevention, suppression and control systems, as well as using more environmentally friendly foams, something the Tyco Group was already doing.

“It was a timely reminder of what can happen and the need for extra vigilance.”

He adds that industrial fire hazards are varied and often unique to particular industries and that Wormald designs, installs and commissions systems that meet all HSNO, building code and other requirements in New Zealand.

And Heath says Wormald’s economic view for the rest of the year looks good.

“The outlook is still positive for us. The projects we are involved with – we certainly have not seen any rolling back. It’s looking good generally in the energy industry.”