BP American Refinery Explosion - Texas City, 2005
At approximately 1:20 p.m. on March 23, 2005, a series of explosions occurred at the BP Texas City refinery during the restarting of a hydrocarbon isomerization unit.
Fifteen workers were killed and 180 others were injured. Many of the victims were in or around work trailers located near an atmospheric vent stack. The explosions occurred when a distillation tower flooded with hydrocarbons and was over pressurized, causing a geyser-like release from the vent stack.
CSB investigators found that BP, trade associations, and U.S. regulators evaluated the safety of offshore facilities by focusing on lagging indicators like injury reports rather than leading indicators like data reflecting the quality of management programs to prevent potential accidents. The investigators recommended expanded use of process safety management leading indicators.
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Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-5. A major causal finding by CSB investigators of the BP American Refinery explosion was that BP and similar companies _____.
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