You might have seen on the news about a refinery explosion last night in pembrokeshire. I live really close and heard the blast saw the smoke, sad news 4 people killed one I knew pretty well and the others through friends

Stay safe out there,

At least it wasn't another Flixborough sadly as anybody who worked in the petroleum industry knows it is a risk that is inherent with the job, the inevitable inquiry will have to look to see in corners were cut in to reduce costs either by not following proper tank cleaning and degassing procedures or by failures of staff training by either the company or its contractors.

I've put scaffolding up in few petrochem plants around the country and this tragedy comes as no surprise as a lot of the older plants have been run into ground, maximum profits- minimum maintenance.

I suspect the reason BP sold off the Grangemouth Refinery was because it was fast becoming geriatric and they didn't want to become exposed to the risk of bad publicity if something went very wrong.

As companies use more and more outside contractors in an effort to drive down costs, the control of contractors with regard to safety procedures becomes a massive problem, and of course personnel get into bad habits and underestimate the risks involved, it may turn out an extra hour steaming and ventilating or just better house keeping might have prevented the tragedy.