Last April, an offshore oil drilling platform, the Deepwater Horizon, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 persons and setting off a massive environmental disaster that has placed the Obama administration on the defensive and sparked a spirited political debate on the sustainability of dependence on fossil fuels. This brought back the nightmare of a similar oil spill in 1989 after Exxon’s Valdez tanker hit Prince William Sound’s Bligh reef in Alaska.
What caused the Deepwater Horizon disaster? According to Wikipedia:
“Attention has focused on the cementing procedure and the blowout preventer, which failed to fully engage. A number of significant problems have been identified with the blowout preventer: There was a leak in the hydraulic system that provides power to the shear rams. The underwater control panel had been disconnected from the bore ram, and instead connected to a test hydraulic rams.”
It is apparent that there was a failure in a procedure and in one of the elements of the technical operating system. Both are under human control and malfunction could have been prevented. Further findings revealed that: “The blowout preventer schematic drawings, provided by Transocean (a contractor) to BP (majority owner of the oil rig), do not correspond to the structure that is on the ocean bottom. The shear rams are not designed to function on the joints where the drill pipes are screwed together or on tools that are passed through the blowout preventer during well construction.”
This is similar to a discovery after a fire that the actual layout of a gutted structure was not the same as the proposed scheme that was approved when the building permit was given.
While full-blown investigations are still ongoing, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), oil policy arm of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) whose 31 members are among the richest and most progressive countries, has deplored the “accumulation of human errors” that caused the catastrophe.
In the case of the Exxon Valdez disaster, the findings are stark and startling:
“Exxon Shipping Company failed to repair the Raycas sonar system, which would have indicated to the third mate an impending collision with the Bligh reef. The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue or excessive workload. Exxon also failed to supervise the master and provide a rested and sufficient crew for the Exxon Valdez.”
What is evident from the foregoing analysis is that there was a failure in management. A sonar or radar system is so basic to the operation of a vessel. It is unthinkable that a giant multinational company like Exxon did not have the resources to replace or repair the broken system, so why did this happen at all?
Greg Palasi, an investigative reporter, offers this account in Wikipedia: “"Forget the drunken skipper fable. As to Captain Joe Hazelwood, he was below decks, sleeping off his bender. At the helm, the third mate would never have collided with Bligh Reef had he looked at his Raycas sonar. But the sonar was not turned on. In fact, the tanker's sonar was left broken and disabled for more than a year before the disaster, and Exxon management knew it. It was in Exxon's view just too expensive to fix and operate.”
Indeed, history has a way of repeating itself. As it was in Exxon Valdez, circa 1989, it happened again in Deepwater Horizon, circa 2010. When will we ever learn?
In Global Disasters, Robert Allinson argues that a basic respect for human life and a strong ethical position taken on by leaders of organizations is key to preventing disasters. He cites Winston Churchill’s famous quotation after Japanese forces invaded and occupied Singapore: “I ought to have known. My advisers ought to have known and I ought to have been told and I ought to have asked.”
Mr. Churchill took full responsibility for the consequences of his government’s failure to anticipate, forestall and prevent the Japanese invasion. Another war-timer leader, US President Harry Truman is credited with the famous line: “The buck stops here.”
Mr. Allinson believes this should be modified into: “The buck stops here and it stops everywhere else.” Not just the CEO or top honcho but all members of an organization at every level must step up and assume responsibility for all actions and interactions that affect other people’s lives. This is the only way that safety may be assured and that human life may be safeguarded from human error.
Recall, too, that in the Challenger disaster in 1987, it was discovered that a simple O-ring seal that gave up due to extreme temperature caused the explosion that killed seven astronauts, including a schoolteacher, less than a minute after it was launched and in full view of thousands of viewers on the ground and on global television. In 2003, another space shuttle vehicle exploded upon re-entry due to the tearing off of tiles that were installed for heat insulation, killing the astronauts aboard.
After the Bhopal gas tragedy that killed almost 3,000 people in 1984, it was found out that Union Carbide stored large quantities of the toxic gas methyl isocyanate, a chemical used in making pesticides. A storage tank containing the lethal gas could not withstand the high pressure that had built up, thereby emitting noxious fumes that killed and immobilized hundreds.
Moreover, the plant was located very near a train station and adjacent to shanty towns in the capital city of Madhya Pradesh state.
Investigations later showed that laxity in safety measures was largely due to the cozy relationship between the company and the government regulatory authorities. It was even reported that “lavish parties for local dignitaries were often thrown at Union Carbide’s luxurious guest house.”
In the case of Deepwater Horizon, BP’s CEO initially denied, then downplayed the company’s responsibility for the disaster. When later events proved BP’s undoing, and he had to face irate legislators at a congressional hearing, he presented a more contrite stance and meekly apologized.
Mr. Allison cites the unbridled greed for profits as the ultimate culprit. Today, many enlightened corporations have adopted the principle of the triple bottom line that upholds the primacy of people and planet (respect for the environment) over profits as the only clear path toward sustainable business growth.
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