Wall Street Journal: Inspectors Adrift in Rig-Safety Push
Posted by proforma on December 5, 2010
An article in the Wall Street Journal on December 3, 2010, decried the inspection program managed by the the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, describing how the agency has not kept up with the increasing sophistication of offshore operations, is understaffed and focuses on hardware rather than systemic safety problems.
Quoting the Wall Street Journal: The presidential commission looking into Deepwater Horizon issued a scathing critique of how the U.S. oversees offshore drilling. It faulted the government for skimping on money for the agency, called inspector training “inadequate and unacceptable” and recommended a wholesale change in the way the agency approaches safety regulations.
The article also described “broad agreement” among safety experts that the inspection program be overhauled to help avoid disasters in the future like the Deepwater Horizon. One expert commented that the focus should be on safety management systems and building a culture of safety instead of on equipment.
The full article is available here. Left: Michael Bromwich, appointed by the White House to revamp the former Minerals Management Service which has been renamed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
Tags:Deepwater Horizon, inspection, OEMRE, safety culture, safety management systems
Filed Under: Workplace Safety
