What Happened?
In the early hours of a Sunday morning, a petrol storage tank at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal overfilled. Over 250,000 litres of petrol cascaded down the side of the tank, forming a massive vapour cloud. The resulting explosion caused extensive damage to commercial and residential properties and resulted in 43 injuries.
Why Did It Happen?
It wasn't just a stuck gauge. Buncefield was a systemic failure of:
- Equipment: An Independent High-Level Switch was left inoperable due to a missing padlock.
- Containment: Fire-fighting chemicals and fuel escaped through leaking bund walls into the groundwater.
- Culture: A lack of clear process safety leadership and a failure to listen to weak signals including near miss incidents.
Key Resources for Industry Professionals
To ensure we do not forget the lessons of Buncefield, please review the following guidance:
- Process Safety Leadership Principles: Learn about the 8 core principles for senior leaders.
- COMAH Competent Authority Reports: Read the "Why did it happen?" summary.
- HSE Buncefield Explosion Mechanism report: Deep dive into the explosion mechanism and structural response.
- The Buncefield Incident 11 December 2005 - The final report of the Major Incident Investigation Board: Read the full 2008 report by the MIIB and its full recommendations.
The HSE also has a dedicated resource page on the incident which can be found here.
Download our report here.