"This book discusses the causes of a major explosion at the Texas City Oil Refinery on March 23, 2005. The explosion killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 others. Failure to Learn also analyses the similarities between this event and the Longford Gas Plant explosion in Victoria in 1998"--Provided by publisher.

Takes the reader into the realm of human and organisational factors that contributed to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. This event resulted in the loss of 11 lives, the sinking of the rig and untold damage to the environment. It is important to know what people did, but even more important to know why they did it. Hopkins from ANU.

Learning from Failures provides techniques to explore the root causes of specific disasters and how we can learn from them. It focuses on a number of well-known case studies, including: the sinking of the Titanic; the BP Texas City incident; the Chernobyl disaster; the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia accident; the Bhopal disaster; and the Concorde accident. This title is an ideal teaching aid, informed by the author's extensive teaching and practical experience and including a list of learning outcomes at the beginning of each chapter, detailed derivation, and many solved examples for modeling and decision analysis. This book discusses the value in applying different models as mental maps to analyze disasters. The analysis of these case studies helps to demonstrate how subjectivity that relies on opinions of experts can be turned into modeling approaches that can ensure repeatability and consistency of results. The book explains how the lessons learned by studying these individual cases can be applied to a wide range of industries. This work is an ideal resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and will also be useful for industry professionals who wish to avoid repeating mistakes that resulted in devastating consequences. - Explores the root cause of disasters and various preventative measures - Links theory with practice in regard to risk, safety, and reliability analyses - Uses analytical techniques originating from reliability analysis of equipment failures, multiple criteria decision making, and artificial intelligence domains

The worst nightmares of the oil and gas pipeline industry are coming true in the United States.High-pressure natural gas pipelines run underground through many suburban areas as part of the network providing fuel to homes and businesses. This infrastructure poses an immense, but insufficiently recognised, threat to the general public. In 2010, one of these pipelines ruptured in San Bruno, a suburb of San Francisco adjacent to the international airport. The result was a massive explosion and fire in which eight people died, many were injured, and 38 homes were destroyed. This possibility haunts many cities around the world.Coincidentally in the same year, another worst-case scenario came true, near Marshall, in the state of Michigan. A pipeline rupture released vast quantities of oily sludge into a local river system. The smell was so offensive that many nearby residents were forced to sell their homes and get out. The clean-up cost the pipeline owner more than a billion dollars, making it the most expensive oil spill on land in US history.This book examines the causes of these two events. It argues that, although they were profoundly surprising to the companies concerned, from a broader perspective they were no surprise at all, stemming as they did from well-known human, organisational and regulatory failures. In particular, we emphasise two contrasting but equally flawed approaches to prevention of rare but catastrophic events.Fantasy planningCompanies often try to convince themselves, regulators and members of the public that they have the relevant hazards under control because they have elaborate plans to deal with them. When it comes to the point, these plans turn out to be wildly optimistic and full of unjustified assumptions and inaccurate data. Their function is symbolic rather than instrumental - that is, they serve as statements that the hazard is under control, rather than as real instruments of control. Fantasy planning was very evident in both accidents.Black swansThe second approach adopts the currently fashionable "black swan" metaphor. In Europe, historically, all swans are white, and Europeans could not conceive of a black swan - until they discovered Australia. In the 21st century, the concept of a black swan has taken on new meaning - a rare event with major impact, quite unpredictable at the time, although possibly explicable in hindsight. Nowadays, major industrial accidents, such as the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, are sometimes referred to as black swans. But here the analogy breaks down. Black swans were unforeseeable to Europeans. Major accidents are not unforeseeable to risk analysts. In fact, it is their responsibility to foresee them and to put in place barriers against them. Accidents occur when those barriers fail. The metaphor is therefore wrong. In fact, it seems to be nothing more than a contemporary version of the idea that major accidents are inevitable - the 'stuff happens' view of risk management.Integrity managementThese two concepts shed new light on why integrity management is so difficult to get right and also how it can be improved. We hope that those in positions of responsibility in companies that have responsibility for hazardous facilities will feel the need to scrutinise their own integrity management systems with these absurdities in mind. The major failings we have identified provide valuable lessons for all organisations that use risk assessments to manage and prioritise routine activities.Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand is the non-exclusive distributor of this title.

"This eBook is an in-depth analysis into what makes a high reliability organisation. Combining research from OHS experts, including Professor Andrew Hopkins, learn what these organisations are doing that enables them to operate safely and what your organisation can do to avoid hazards and disasters."--Wolters Kluwer CCH Website.

Provides a framework for understanding the connection between the informational and commercial sides of sports information management. Part I addresses the working relationships between journalists and sport organisations as they have evolved over the years. Part II defines the various roles of sports information specialists along with their duties in disseminating information. It provides practical guidelines on everything from writing press releases to preparing media guides to organising events such as news conferences and media days. Part III addresses the responsibilities of sports information professionals: How to organise and manage game coverage what to do to promote special events ranging from awards banquets to tournaments and how to develop publicity campaigns. Part IV confronts the ethics of these formalised working relationships and the ideology they perpetuate. "Media Relations in Sport" is for students in sport management as well as students in journalism public relations or communications. Each chapter contains a glossary of terms discussion questions suggested exercises role playing activities and extensive notes.

GT40: The Legend Lives On John S. AllenAllen has photographed the birthday celebrations at Silverstone and Road America, recorded a fascinating comparative track test of road and race versions, and the restoration of the rare Mk 4 chassis.Cutaway drawings and images of surviving GT4s from around the world. Sftbd., 8 1/4x 9, 128 pgs., 1 b&w ill., 137 color.

"How do we change the culture of an organisation? The culture change industry assumes that this is best done with educational campaigns - the hearts and minds approach. But this seldom works, because it does not come to terms with the real source of organisational culture - the way the organisation is structured. This book explores just how organisational structure shapes culture. It shows how decentralized organisational structures allow profit and production to take precedence over safety, while centralised risk control is conducive to a culture of operational excellence. The argument is based on case study material from the petroleum industry, the mining industry and even, the Australian Air Force. Drawing on the theory of high reliability organisations, and also on recent scandals in banking industry, the book concludes with some suggestions as to how company boards can increase the effectiveness of the risk specialists in their organisations."-- Wolters Kluwer CCH Website.