Phillips accident

In addition to these formal studies of human error in the CPI, almost all the major accident investigations in recent years, for example, Texas City, Piper Alpha, Phillips 66, Feyzin, Mexico City, have shown human error as a significant causal factors in design, operations, maintenance or the management of the process. Figures 4.4-1 and 4.4-2 show the effects of human error on nuclear plant operation. 

National Transportation Safety Board. 1972. Pipeline Accident Report, Phillips Pipe Line Company propane gas explosion, Franklin County, MO, December 9, 1970. National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC, Report No. NTSB-PAR-72-1. 

In short, the Phillips Report says the accident was caused by a change in a routine maintenance procedure. 

Phillips Petroleum Company, A Report on the Houston Chemical Complex Accident, Phillips Petroleum Company, Bartlesville, OK, 1990. 

The Phillips complex produces high-density polyethylene, which is used to make milk bottles and other containers. Prior to the accident, the facility produced approximately 1.5 billion pounds of the material per year. It employed 905 company employees and approximately 600 daily contract employees. The contract employees were engaged primarily in regular maintenance activities and new plant construction. 

Since 1972, OSHA has conducted 92 inspections in the Dallas region at various Phillips locations 24 were in response to a fatality or a serious accident. OSHA determined that Phillips had not acted upon reports by its own safety personnel and outside consultants who had pointed out unsafe conditions. OSHA also had conducted 44 inspections of the Fish Company, seven of them in response to a fatality or a serious accident. 

It was found by OSHA that the contractor, Fish Engineering, had a history of serious and willful violations of safety standard, which Phillips had not acted upon. The same contractor also had been involved in a fatal accident at the same facility three months earlier. 

The European Union enacted the directive on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances in response to the 1976 dioxin release from the ICMESA facility near Seveso, Italy the United States enacted a similar Emergency Preparedness and Community Right-to-Know Act in response to the 1984 Bhopal disaster and 1989 Phillips Pasadena, Texas, refinery explosion and fire. 

Both Phillips and UOP have employed additives dissolved in the liquid HF. The objective is to reduce the tendency to form, as a result of an accident, highly toxic aerosol clouds. Claims have been made that the additives reduce the amount of the HF that enters such a cloud by 65-90%. Although such a reduction is obviously important, no information is available on the hazards that still exist or how far toxic levels of HF might still be transferred. The additives eventually need to be separated, recovered, and recycled. The concentrations of the additives in the HF have apparently not been reported in any detail. Additives increase operating costs significantly. Somewhat high-quality alkylates are, however, produced in at least some cases when additives are used. Conoco-Phillips use sulfolane as their additive while UOP has tested both pyridine and picolene. These additives likely form hydrogen bonds with HF, and also affect the interfacial areas of the dispersions. 

The flammable gases used by the petrochemical industry have been involved in many accidents.109 A Are and explosion following a leak of ethylene and isobutane from a pipeline at a Phillips plant in Pasadena, Texas, in 1989, killed 23 people and injured 130.110 The U. S. Occupa... 

Phillips, G.B. (1965). Causal factors in microbiological laboratory accidents and infections. Miscellaneous Publications, 2, Fort Detrick, Maryland, US Biological... 

Phillips Petroleum Company. A report on the houston chemical complex accident Bartlesville, OK Phillips Petroleum Company 1990. 

To minimize the dangers that can occur if HF is released into the atmosphere, both UOP and Phillips have incorporated additives in the liquid HF. These additives reduce the likelihood of HF aerosol clouds in the case of an accident. The UOP additive has been used in a Texaco unit where it increases the alkylate quality by about 1.0 RON. The additive is an onium compound (33) and is perhaps pyridine (34). The Phillips additive is sulfolane and was first used in the Mobil refinery in Torrance, California. This additive increases operation costs by about 0.5 cents per gallon. The increased cost for using the UOP additive has apparently not been reported. HF inventories in Phillips units are thought to be substantial. Although these additives and/or water sprays reduce the potential hazards of HF releases, details have apparently not been publicized on potential dangers that still exist or on the amounts of additives employed. 

Cooper, M.D., Phillips, R.A., Sutherland, V.J. and Makin, P.J. (1994) Reducing accidents using goal setting and feedback a field study, journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 67 219-240. 

Thanks also to Phillip Johnson for help with graphics and Colin Holmes for the Waterfall Rail Accident photographs. 

Phillips, D. R, and Brewer, K. M. 2011. The relationship between serious injury and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in fatal motor vehicle accidents BAC=0.01% is associated with significantly more dangerous accidents than BAC=0.00%. Addiction, 106, 1614-1622. 

Owsley, C., Stalvey, B.T., and Phillips, J.M. 2003. The efficacy of an educational intervention in promoting self-regulation among high-risk older drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35, 393—400. 

AEC 290/15 (3 May 1957), AEC/DOE United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Jackson E. McVey and H. E. Northway vs. Phillips Petroleum Company, 10 Mar. 1961, General Correspondence (Nuclear Accidents— M. W. Kellogg), JCAE Papers Joseph P. Blank, "Atomic Tragedy in Texas," Look, 3 Sept. 1957, pp. 25-29. 

Sion s report cites data from a study by H.R. Phillips that suggested that the percentage of miners killed in explosions had risen from 3.3% in the perkxl 1955-1967 to 21.3% from 1981-93, despite a general decrease in rhe number of miners killed in coal mining accidents (p. 30). 

For analyses of component interactions see John Hoehn. The Benefit-Cost Evaluation of Multi-Part Public Policy A Theoretical Framework and Critique of Estimation Methods. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Kentucky (1983) and William F. McFarland, IJndsay I. Griffen, John B. Rollins, William R. Stockton, Don T. Phillips, and Conrad L. Dudek. Assessment of Techniques for Cost-Effectiveness of Highway Accident Countermeasures. Federal Hi way Administration Report FHWA-RD-79-53. January 1979. 

Montgomery MR, Wier GT, Zieve FJ et al (1977) Human intoxication following inhalation exposure to synthetic jet lubricating oil. Clin Toxicol n(4) 423-426 Phillips EH (1999) Accidents raise issue of pilot psychological testing. Aviat Week Space Technol 151(21) 22, November 1999... 

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