THE REPORT: Federal investigators believe BP and the drilling contractor it hired to operate the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon focused too closely on workers’ personal safety at the expense of preventing major hazards, such as those that ultimately caused the rig to blow up in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
THE PREVIOUS REPORT: the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said it had raised similar concerns after a deadly explosion in 2005 at BP’s Texas City refinery, but discovered many of its recommendations had not been implemented on the offshore rig.
ONE FOR ALL: The panel found that the intense focus on personal safety has led to “complacency on major hazards,” panel member Cheryl MacKenzie said. BP and the overall industry put an “overemphasis on personal safety at the expense of major hazard prevention.” The board said there is a difference between worker safety and making sure the entire rig and well are safe, and the latter area is where BP and Transocean, the drilling contractor, were “inadequate.”
