MAJOR DISASTER

PHILLIPS 66 PLANT EXPLOSION IN PASADENA, TEXAS 1989

INTRODUCTION:

On 23 October 1989, an explosion and fire ripped through the Phillips 66 Company, Houston
Chemical Complex in Pasadena, Texas. The blast at the Phillips 66 Company were caused by
inadequate safety procedures. The explosion resulted in 23 fatalities and about 300 people were
injured. Formation of a flammable vapour cloud which subsequently ignited resulting in massive
vapour cloud explosion. Following this initial explosion there was a series of further explosions
and fires.

The polyethylene reactor at the Phillips 66 Company created chemical compounds necessary for
the production of plastic. The plant produced million of pounds of plastics for the use in toys and
container daily. A scheduled maintenance work had begun to clear three of the six settling legs
of the reactor the day before the incident happened. The work had been carried out by a specialist
maintenance contractor. A procedure was in place to isolate the leg to be worked on. During the
clearing of No.2 settling leg part of the plug remained lodged in the pipework, a member of the
team went to the control room to seek assistance and shortly afterwards, the release occurred.
About 2 minutes later, the vapour cloud ignited.
CONCLUSION:

In most major chemical plant accidents such as this, especially when there are fatalities and
multiple injuries, are investigated by OSHA. In a detailed report of the accident, OSHA
concluded that Phillips 66 plant failed in a number of areas. Major violations included a lack of
process hazard analysis (used by employees in industrial occupations to assess potential risks and
mitigate them) and inadequate standardized operating procedures. Overall, OSHA slapped
Phillips 66 with 566 willful violations and 9 additional serious violations.

Cover of the April 1990 U.S. Department of Labor/OSHA report to the President
showing enormous fireball at the October 1989 explosion of the Phillips 66
plastics plant in Pasadena, TX that killed 23 workers.

OSHA also found Fish Engineering and Construction Inc.

partially responsible for the accident. Fish Engineering was a
company contracted to conduct maintenance at the Phillips
plant. Despite the severity of the Phillips Disaster of 1989,
the Phillips plant was reopened after repairs were made.
Today, it employs hundreds of individuals and still
manufactures the same types of plastic compounds. Since the 1989 explosion, there have been
three other major accidents, two of which resulted in fatalities.

Texas is home to many manufacturing plants, including many that manufacture and house
hazardous chemicals. The Phillips Disaster serves to show the devastating consequences of
failing to adhere to regulatory guidelines, especially in such a hazard-ridden industry.

REFERENCE:

Lees, F.P., ‘Loss Prevention in the Process Industries – Hazard Identification, Assessment and
Control’, Volume 3, Appendix 1, Butterworth Heinemann, ISBN 0 7506 1547 8, 1996.
History.com Editors. (2019, June 27). Gas leak kills 23 at plastics factory. Retrieved from
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gas-leak-kills-23-at-plastics-factory

The Daspit Law Firm. (2019, July 26). A look back at the Phillips disaster of 1989. Retrieved
from https://www.daspitlaw.com/personal-injury-blog/2014/february/a-look-back-at-the-phillips-
disaster-of-1989/