MB Petroelum third party fatality

1
Safety Alert
No. 20 Dec 98

Committed to Safety
Portacabin Fire
Background A fire occurred recently at night time
in a dry store portacabin at Qarn Alam PDO motel.
Alarm to adjacent occupants was raised by an ROP
officer stationed at the PDO camp gate. The Fire
Brigade was mobilized and extinguished the fire.
There were no injuries but the incident could
easily have escalated into a major accident if
the wind would have been stronger or blown from a
different location.

• Causes of the incident
• A detailed investigation revealed
  that the primary cause of the fire was defective
  
• insulation of the electrical cable
  feeding the main distribution box of the dry
  store
• portacabin. This caused a short
  circuit in the cable to the distribution box,
  resulting
• in development of intense heat,
  followed by ignition of the box contents and
  subsequently
• the portacabin wall.
• Actions to Prevent Recurrence
• In order to prevent recurrence of
  the above incident, the following action shall be
  
• undertaken
• Assess the integrity of electrical systems in
  temporary camps and take remedial action to bring
  them up to the minimum requirements as per HSE SM
  requirements Chapter 6, Section 3.
• Fire/smoke detection shall be in accordance with
  ERD 88-02 Section 3.4, Rev.1 July 98.