The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a new safety video detailing a June 2006 explosion that led to the deaths of three contractors at the Partridge-Raleigh oilfield in rural Raleigh, Miss., to emphasize safe hot work practices.
The victims were employees of Stringer's Oilfield Services, an independent contract firm hired by Partridge-Raleigh to perform maintenance on oil storage tanks at the facility. The investigation determined that neither Partridge-Raleigh nor Stringer's Oilfield Services followed safe practices for hot work, which includes operations such as cutting, welding and grinding that can generate sparks and ignite flammable materials.
The 9-minute video, “Death in the Oilfield,” includes a 3-D computer animation depicting the sequence of events that led to the explosion, including unsafe hot work practices The video is available at http://www.safetyvideos.gov.