Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform which came into service in 1976, first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production. An explosion and resulting fire destroyed it on July 6, 1988.

A total of 167 people died in the Piper Alpha fire making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster. To date it is the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms both of lives lost and impact to industry.

In March 2005 an explosion ripped through a BP oil refinery in Texas City, Texas, killing 15 workers and injuring over 100. After the disaster DNA profiling was considered as a means of identifying the large contract labour force.