3 in critical condition after Pulau Bukom fire

Six people were injured after fire broke out at Shell's Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site on Friday evening (Aug 21).
Channel NewsAsia 21 Aug 15;

SINGAPORE: Three people are in critical condition after a fire broke out at Shell's Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site on Friday (Aug 21).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the fire at 6.15pm on Friday evening. The blaze was extinguished by the Company Emergency Response Team before SCDF arrived on the scene.

Six contractor workers suffered burn injuries and were sent to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). "Contrary to speculation, there is no SCDF personnel among the casualties," the civil defence force said on Facebook.

Of the six workers injured, three have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, SGH confirmed. One is in stable condition, while the two have been discharged after receiving outpatient treatment.

"We are following the progress and treatment of the other workers closely and are working with our contractors to ensure all possible support and assistance are rendered to the injured workers and their families. All other personnel are accounted for at the site," a Shell spokesperson said.

Shell added that the fire was put out by the site’s first emergency responders within an hour and said there is no other impact on the site’s operations. The firm added that it is working with the Singapore Civil Defence Force to investigate the incident.

- CNA/dl

6 injured in fire at Shell's Pulau Bukom manufacturing site
AsiaOne 21 Aug 15;

*Update as at Aug 22, 10.30am: One more contractor worker has been discharged, bringing the total number of workers discharged after receiving outpatient treatment to three as of 9am this morning (22 August).

SINGAPORE - A fire which occurred on Friday evening at Shell's Pulau Bukom manufacturing site left six contractor workers with burn injuries.

In a Facebook post by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), the casualties were sent to Singapore General Hospital.

According to a Shell spokesperson, Shell has confirmed that the fire took place and two of the workers have since been discharged after receiving treatment.

SCDF stated in its Facebook post that they received a call from the site at approximately 6.15pm.

Upon SCDF's arrival, the fire had been extinguished by the company's emergency response team. The fire was put out within an hour and there is no other impact on the site's operations, said the spokesperson.

There were no SCDF personnel among the casualties.

While the cause of the fire was not stated, Shell assures that they are working with the SCDF to investigate the incident.

"We are following the progress and treatment of the other workers closely and are working with our contractors to ensure all possible support and assistance are rendered to the injured workers and their families. All other personnel are accounted for at the site," said the spokesperson.

Shell's Bukom refinery fire occurred at a section under maintenance: Spokesperson
Reuters AsiaOne 22 Aug 15;

SINGAPORE - A fire which broke out at Royal Dutch Shell's 500,000 barrels-per-day refinery on Pulau Bukom island off Singapore on Friday occurred at a section of one of the units currently under scheduled maintenance, a company spokeswoman said on Saturday.

The fire at the unidentified unit of the Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site, Shell's largest wholly owned plant, was put out by the site's first emergency responders within an hour, Shell said.

Three of the six contract workers hospitalised with burns were treated and discharged while the remaining three were still being monitored, the spokeswoman said.

She did not elaborate on what caused the fire but added that there was no other impact on the site's operations.

In May, Reuters reported that Shell was planning to shut Bukom's largest 210,000 bpd crude unit for one to two months in the third quarter for planned maintenance.

The refinery saw production losses in September 2011 due to a fire that forced the company to shut down a crude unit and a fluid catalytic cracker, which drove up margins of oil products.

Friday's fire at Bukom had caused gasoil spreads and exchange of futures for swaps (EFS) derivatives to firm up, a Singapore-based trader said.

Fire at Shell's Pulau Bukom plant leaves 6 injured, including 3 in critical condition
Lim Yi Han Straits Times 21 Aug 15;

SINGAPORE - A fire broke out at oil giant Shell's manufacturing site on Pulau Bukom on Friday evening, leaving six workers with burn injuries.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they received a call at around 6.15pm about the fire from the Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site.

Upon its arrival, the fire had already been extinguished by Shell's emergency response team.


The six victims were sent to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

Three of them are in a "critical condition", said a SGH spokesman. One is in a stable condition, and two others were discharged after receiving outpatient treatment.

In a statement. a Shell spokesperson said: "We are following the progress and treatment of the other workers closely and are working with our contractors to ensure all possible support and assistance are rendered to the injured workers and their families. All other personnel are accounted for at the site."

Shell also confirmed that the fire was put out within an hour by the site's first emergency responders and there were no other impact on the site's operations.

"We are working with the Singapore Civil Defence Force to investigate the incident," the statement also said.

In the Facebook post, SCDF also said that "contrary to speculation, there is no SCDF personnel among the casualties".

Pulau Bukom houses the $4.1 billion Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex, which opened in May 2010, and is Shell's largest petrochemical investment.

This is not the first time a fire broke out at Pulau Bukom. In September 2011, more than 100 firefighters helped to put out a fire that raged for 32 hours at the Pulau Bukom refinery. Shell was fined $80,000 the following year for lapses in workplace safety that led to the fire.

Pulau Bukom fire: Three workers discharged, three still in hospital
Jalelah Abu Baker and Ng Huiwen Straits Times 22 Aug 15;

SINGAPORE- Three of the six contractor workers injured in a fire in oil giant Shell's manufacturing site on Pulau Bukom were discharged from hospital by Saturday morning, said Shell in a statement.

However there are still three others in hospital. Two of them are in the Intensive Care Unit, while the other is in "stable condition", said a Singapore General Hospital (SGH) spokesman.

"We continue to follow the progress and treatment of the other three workers closely and are working with our contractor to ensure all possible support and assistance are rendered to the injured workers and their families," the Shell spokesman added.

The fire broke out on Friday evening at a section of the manufacturing site that was under scheduled maintenance.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said they received a call at around 6.15pm.

When they arrived, the fire had already been extinguished by Shell's emergency response team.

Shell confirmed that the fire was put out within an hour by the site's first emergency responders and there were no other impact on the site's operations.

The incident response team from the Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) were also at SGH on Friday to assess the workers' conditions, said MWC Chairman Yeo Guat Kwang

"The MWC would like to remind all employers on their legal obligations to provide safe working conditions for their workers and to ensure that their workers are protected in all circumstances," he added.

Pulau Bukom houses the $4.1 billion Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex, which opened in May 2010. It is Shell's largest petrochemical investment.

2 in critical condition after Pulau Bukom fire
Channel NewsAsia 22 Aug 15;

SINGAPORE: Two people are in critical condition after a fire broke out at Shell's Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site on Friday (Aug 21).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the fire at 6.15pm on Friday evening. The blaze was extinguished by the Company Emergency Response Team before SCDF arrived on the scene.

Six contractor workers suffered burn injuries and were sent to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). "Contrary to speculation, there is no SCDF personnel among the casualties," the civil defence force said on Facebook.

A Shell spokesperson said that the fire was put out by the site’s first emergency responders within an hour and said there is no other impact on the site’s operations. The firm added that it is working with the Singapore Civil Defence Force to investigate the incident.

On Saturday, Shell stated that out of the six workers injured, two are still in the Intensive Care Unit of SGH, while one has been placed in the general ward. The other three are in stable condition - two of them were discharged after receiving outpatient treatment.

"We continue to follow their progress and treatment closely and are working with our contractor to ensure all possible support and assistance are rendered to the injured workers and their families," Shell added.

- CNA/dl/hs