Safety Lapses, Ineptitude At BP "Go Right To The Top" - Telegraph

[hatrack]

An independent investigation into BP's Texan refinery disaster has concluded that there were serious structural deficiencies in the way the company managed safety stretching right up to its London headquarters.

The conclusions will be published on Tuesday in a damning report from a panel led by James Baker, the former US secretary of state, that casts new light on the pressures building up against Lord Browne, the chief executive, before his surprise retirement announcement on Friday.

According to sources who have seen copies of the 250-page report, it focuses on failings in "process safety management" that undermine previous claims that BP's problems in North America have all been isolated incidents.

"The report finds the problems go all the way to the top and to talk about what happened in Texas City you have to talk about what happened in London," said one. "There is no level of the company that is exempt from responsibility."

EDIT

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/01/14/cnbp14.xml

[acmavm]

1. Lapses? Ineptitude? I don't think so. They're just like AMERICAN oil

companies. They're 'cutting costs' so the rich can stuff more money in their pockets. Like I've said a hundred times before, there is no more 'cost of doing business'. It's all gouge the customer so the wealthy can line their pockets. My best example: the wreck of the Exxon Valdez. They can give some fat bastard a half billion dollar retirement package, the petition the court on the basis that they cannot afford the fine imposed on them, and they get it cut in half. AND THEY STILL HAVEN'T PAID IT.

They're all the same. No one gives a shit about safety. It's all profits.

I AM NOT DEFENDING British Petroleum. DON'T ANYONE GET THAT IDEA IN THEIR HEADS. I am saying right now that we have a world-wide problem with corporate corruption.

edit: forgot my snip

<snip>

Even supporters of the oil giant have in recent months expressed concern that the accidents are signs of a more systemic problem. Several experienced industry watchers believe BP cut investment in areas such as Alaska during the late 1990s when crude prices were low and oil companies around the world were trying to control costs.

"The worrying thing for me is that there have been too many incidents," said a former BP executive. "The problems pre-date the Amoco acquisition. They go all the way back to Alaska. How do you know when you've done too much cost-cutting?" he asked.

<snip>

[Eugene]

2. Reuters: BP's Browne admits errors, denies bad faith

BP's Browne admits errors, denies bad faith
16 Jan 2007 21:02:38 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Bruce Nichols

HOUSTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - BP <BP.L> Chief Executive John Browne on Tuesday deflected
questions about how his legacy would be affected by a panel's report criticizing the oil
major's safety practices, but he admitted mistakes and a sense of failure.

"I can look back and say, of course, there were things I would do differently," he said
from London by videoconference link to reporters gathered in Houston.

-snip-

The panel found a lack of focus on manufacturing process safety contributed to the March
2005 Texas City, Texas, refinery explosion that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others.

But it also found that the errors were made in good faith, Browne said, blaming an
imbalance in the emphasis on personal safety and the environment at the expense of
process safety.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16345816.htm

In short, BP's mistakes came from an unbalanced focus on safety,
he says, not from an unhealthy and greedy corporate culture.