Question

Do you feel OSHA regulators were as much at fault as British Petroleum themselves, in causing the accidents in the Gulf of Mexico and Texas?

Answer 1

It is not always the regulations that are at fault but often, it is the way the regulations are bent for one’s own advantage or convenience. Similarly, in case of the British Petroleum, the safety awards were conferred just hours before the disastrous event with the view that BP had taken observed all the safety regulations pertaining to any safety hazards that could cause injuries to the workers. On the day of the disaster, the safety awards event was organized to celebrate their safety milestone. This itself proves that these awards were not considered after taking into account the OSHA guidelines and it is hence that post the accident, OSHA fined the BP approximated $21 million for breaching the OSHA regulations and by far the highest penalty that was imposed during that period. Coming back to the award ceremony, the major highlight of this award ceremony was the fact that there was not a single safety violation or lost-time accident reported in the past seven years. This formed the basis for the high level of security that was established in the Organization. However the fact was that few of the incidents would go unreported, like in many other Organizations due to the pressure from the managers to discourage the workers from reporting the same, which the OSHA inspection later discovered such as prior to the accident, two employees of British Petroleum died owing to the breakdown of the Company’s lockout program.