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Whilst the victims of Piper Alpha will always be remembered by their loved ones, we must never forget what the families of many survivors went through. Many men were badly affected by what is now known as post traumatic stress disorder and others took to heavy drinking causing marriages and families to break up.
Here is a story of one such family.
https://www.hsepeople.com/news/piper...survivors-son/
Regards from,
Fouro.
It wasnt only the survivors Fouro it was some others who you would never have thought of. I was privy to some of the stories but would not repeat unless given permission by the narrator. Privacy I do respect as is every persons right, however they give up that privillige when they throw caution to the winds and speak out of the back of their necks. The same as on a ship it is amazing as master some of the confessions of private life’s you hear from distraught people, it’s part of the job to try and quell someone’s anxiety, but they aren’t for public knowledge. There must be cases of people lost at sea through self harm , that if someone had only listened to them it could maybe have been averted. We will never know the numbers. Cheers JWS.
As regards the memorial services I went to the very first one at the the Kirk of Saint Nicholas In Aberdeen. . Straight from the DTI Offices after giving a statement. The tickets for 2 seats were given me by the DTI surveyor as the place was Packed. From there went to the office and handed my notice in, as already had made arrangements for joinining another company prior to the Piper Alpha. I returned on being asked to join others on making a documentary honouring those lost for the 25 th. anniversary.. I paid my own way and only did it as was told others would be doing also. The two locations I was filmed and cross examined were never shown on the documentary, either I was not photogenic or too blunt spoken and didn’t fit in with the dialogue the new owners of the film desired, I refused to go back for re doing, even though it was at their expense. I went to the 30 th anniversary under my own steam also as thought it was the right thing to do. However now believe I have done all that anyone can do to honour those already departed. I also offered to the museum any artefacts and paperwork for show if they wanted. As of this date they have not even acknowledged receipt of correspondence. I do believe however the oil companies may be sponsors of the museum. So Fouro as regards commitments I don’t think I can do any more, apart from put a few bob in the collection tin when it comes around. The Piper Alpha as regards this generation is all parcelled up tidily and tied with ribbon by those who make these decisions for future generations to read and be part of history. Cheers JWS
Everything I've read John has been the official stuff because basically as far as I'm concerned with a couple of encounters I have had with the Press which in that case was the local Press near the Works they will tell any lie they can to make a clever headline in a newspaper so I actually don't trust any of them . When I started at the food processing plant in 1987 there was no permit to work no health and safety system or anything similar and I had to set up the basic system some of the practices that they did with 400 volt AC machinery were is very likely to cause death or serious injury so we had to start from basics and what I did is I went and took several courses on permits2work which was very much based on Piper Alpha which at the time was quite fresh and I think I did that course not long after they had the Cullen report then I did some fire safety courses a lot of which was based on the Manchester Woolworths disaster which was another thing that should never have happened in the way it didid , a bit off I did some courses which would have taken me along the road to NEBOSH the safety qualification but to be perfectly honest we had somebody in the company you had that already and you can only get involved so far otherwise you get distracted from your main job we were progressing in the international standards organisation standards for quality and for safety so that's why so many courses the course on permits to work i.e. what went wrong with Piper Alpha there was an involvement from the Health and Safety Executive inspectors used to be known as a factory inspector Who seemed very intent I'm putting it down to error of Man . I left the ferry service just before the Herald of Free Enterprise went over and thought there but by the grace of God walk I . Because of my affinity with the ferry service I read an awful lot of that in the Press and some of the things that they were claiming I would say if you put the naval architecture and the Marine Engineering together were actually physically impossible to have happened in the way it did I also heard some of life's natural Heroes claiming how brave they've been and what they done and what they not done to the point where I couldn't read anymore of it because I realised that in the case of any disaster you'll always get the bullshiter looking for a medal and the guys who need the medal as an honour to say what they've done or the last one's to come forward . I have never Googled or checked up but I would assume that Piper Alpha must have collected more George medals in a single day than any other event . And in my opinion they don't give those out for good attendance . The press is interested in selling newspapers I was interested in seeing what lessons could be learnt and I still felt that despite Cullum report and all the HSE paperwork that I think the whole truth will never be known
#79... It is by people like yourself and Fouro who take time out to study the reports that have to be printed word for word as were made in a court of law that a modicum of truth can be relayed. As said within days so to speak there was a report via the press that a fitter was to blame. . The enquiry went on for over a year with all the so called experts is very unexplained to me that it was a similar result to the papers idea of the truth, I never saw the press mention why with the elaborate gas alarm systems on such structures did not give ample warning , or the water deluge system did not work . The actual flare on the platform seemed to be at a greater intensity than usual and even that should have been a warning that something was amiss. As said however the media isnt interested in printing such mundane factors. It grieves me in the museum that most of their exhibits are newspaper reports which to me are in most cases far from the truth. As regards the oil companies themselves and their work practices the less publicity the better. Safety is in the eye of the beholder and as regards the shipping side I could quote numerous instances where these rules were severely bent to accomodate the good of the industry which primary is the production of oil and gas. Anyone who has read the reports will know more than me as I was only interested at the time of my little part in the after effects. But in any huge loss of life like the Piper Alpha there are always going to be huge after effects. Whether all. The shouting and changing of legislation will. Have any beneficiary effects remains to be seen, the people working on the rigs are the best to answer that one. I spent more time at safety meetings on rigs in Australia and the only benefit I could see was how to handle the paperwork on how to fill in an accident form to make it appear to not be a stoppage of work. Every month the offshore platforms and rigs got a prize to the one who had the least Time Lost to accidents in the different departments.safety is in the eye of the beholder. As to time lost there was plenty of that just in attending these meetings alone, although it was always in your own time that you attended and was compulsory. JWS
FRCs crews. At the end of the incident the clothing for the crew of the boat for the company I was with was discarded hellicopter passenger suits from Dyce airport, and normal hardhats. Communications was a handheld Wallky talky. Anyone will know that communications between boat and ship is an essential safety factor. The noise factor alone makes communication difficult, whether it be from engine noise or burning and exploding structure. A few weeks later I was. On the Haven ships, they had proper boat suits , proper helmets with built in radios and throat mikes. Just one example of the difference between different owners idea of safety for their own crews. JWS
Have a read at the headlines in the Evening Express printed thirty years ago on Thursday 7th July 1988.
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/piper-...-oil-disaster/
Regards from,
Fouro.
My Wife's,sisters Son Colin Jones,was trained Deep Sea Diver.Had the job,working for a Company,bring the Bodies up,he said it was HeartBreaking,May they all R.I.P.Told me lot's more,to upset to say more.He his a Liverpool lad,has lived in Cornwall for about 35.years.R 634898
#82... Fouro i could pick faults with anything printed by the media, anyone with an iota of sense could also. Just by looking at the time frame alone will Briing to mind many discrepancies. Ships that were onlookers to the disaster may have kept a better record and am sure that those from the court of enquiry would have done so and checked them, if they didn’t they weren’t doing their job correctly. However don’t believe they ever came out and questioned newspaper reports. Which should certainly have been done. As the whole purpose of an Inquiry is to seek the truth, as said the answers to a lot of questions have already been decided upon. Any others and you are rocking the boat. Geoff Bollands to my memory jumped from a great height and did not walk onto any rescue boat that I know of , he was passed by stretcher unless am getting mixed up with another similar survivor. Time to those involved in the hands on rescues meant very little, my own memory is, it was twilight when it occurred , it was dark and then it was light again when the survivors were transferred by boat to another vessel who backed up to the Tharos and transferred them by basket. This. Apart from the three who were transferred by ships stretcher direct to the helicopter. The names of all the ships I was aware of are in my initial report, however there were dozens of other vessels not mentioned keeping a safe distance off. The only time I am sure of is the wheelhouse clock and this will obviously not correspond exactly with other vessels, it was 2203 hours. And I was anxiously waiting for one of the crew to come on bridge to let me go below. It had been a busy day as had transferred one of the crew out to a ship going in, and taken a replacement of the ship going in. This was for personal reasons. So was anxious to get my feet up for a while. It would be a long time before I did as was two days later in a hotel in Aberdeen and spent the night in a bath after falling asleep , could have drowned ha ha. And I repeat the only vessel I was aware of anywhere close to the Piper Alpha was the Maersk Cutter. Who rescued my boat crew and dragged the remains of the FRC over his stern roller, where it finished up in Peterhead and believe it was a write off. Close in vessels does of course include. The Tharos. Cheers JWS
John, as you know the media will never tell the truth, just their version of events in the hope it will sell more copy than the other lot.
The only truth we will ever know is from people like you and those who survived and are willing to tell their story.