Offshore blow-out accidents : an analysis of causes of vulnerability exposing technological systems to accidents

Abstract

This thesis is about understanding causes of vulnerabilities leading to specific type of accidents on offshore oil and gas installations. Blow-out accidents have disastrous potential and exemplify accidents in advanced technological systems. The thesis aims to reveal dysfunctional mechanisms occurring within high reliability systems whether in organization or socio –technical interaction. Technological systems form a central place in technological development and as such this thesis is placed in the technology and society group part of the STS- field, though describing technological risks and accidents at group, organizational and industrial sector level. The contents are description on developments in offshore technological design, theories on how organisational vulnerabilities occur, empirical analysis on three major blow-out accidents, empirical analysis on one normal project for reference, sosio-technological historic description on development in Norwegian offshore industry and final analysis