BP's Deepwater Horizon report lacks depth
9 Sep 2010
London – That BP’s report into the Gulf of Mexico disaster has failed to get to the bottom of the matter suggests that the company’s managers have at least learnt some lessons about digging too deep.
Very many process operations involve complex operations and interactions between multiple parties: for BP to offer this as the underlying reason for the Deepwater Horizon accident is well short of the mark.
In the process industries, it is the meticulous management of these interactions and level of adherence to risk assessment and management procedures, and safety standards such as IEC61508 and IEC61511, that offer the best defence against serious accidents.
The uncomfortable truth surrounding the incident on the Deepwater Horizon rig – the clue is in the name – is that there are as yet no effective rules and regulations for pioneering drilling operations in such deepsea locations – an issue that BP’s investigators were apparently less keen to explore.
