Beware of safety awards
2 Aug 2012
On the very day of the Macondo disaster, VIPs from BP and operator Transocean had flown to the rig to commend the workers for achieving zero lost-time incidents and a low rate of personal injuries.
The scenario bore an “eerie resemblence” to the BP Texas City refinery accident, the US Chemical Safety Board has noted in the preliminary findings of its investigation into the accident on 20 April 2010, that claimed 11 lives and huge environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico.
At the Texas refinery, on 23 March, 2005, contract workers had just returned to temporary trailers at the plant after attending a celebratory lunch commending an excellent personal injury accident record. Shortly after lunch, an explosion occurred during process startup, killing 15 and injuring 180 others.
To compound matters, at the time of the Macondo incident on BP was a finalist for a safety award from the Minerals Management Service (MMS) – the former US department of the interior agency overseeing offshore oil exploration and production.
Indeed, a total of 15 major safety awards had been given to BP and Transocean over the previous few years. The criteria used by the US authorities again focused on personal safety metrics rather than the capability of the safety management system to control major accident hazards.
There is, it seems, a dangerously fine line between awards that genuinely recognise and encourage best practice among the workforce, and those that create a false sense of security that masks serious underlying safety issues.
