Chem safety board faces ‘significant challenges’ in US Deepwater Horizon investigation
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) continues to face “significant challenges” in its ongoing investigation into the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, as companies and witnesses have sought to evade subpoenas for testimony and records and various investigation groups have not coordinated effectively, the agency said.
On the one-year anniversary of the incident, CSB chairman Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso issued a statement on behalf of the agency, which began investigating the case last June.
His comments are as follows:
“I would like to take this opportunity to remember the 11 workers who were killed as a result of this catastrophic explosion and fire. We also wish to express our condolences to the families and coworkers whose lives will be forever impacted. The CSB’s investigation of this accident continues to examine a number of critical offshore oil and gas process safety issues.
Currently, CSB investigators are focusing on evaluating physical evidence, including participating in the first phase of the blowout preventer testing. The CSB continues to face significant challenges in its fact-gathering process, including companies and witnesses evading subpoenas for testimony and records and the lack of effective coordination amongst the various organizations involved in the investigation.
The CSB’s independent, root-cause safety investigation began in June 2010. The examination of the adequacy of US offshore regulation included a December 15, 2010, public hearing in Washington, where I welcomed international offshore oil and gas regulators and process safety experts from the US, United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, and Mexico.
In addition to documenting the lessons learned from prior offshore incidents at this hearing, CSB investigators have now traveled to Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Canada to examine those offshore regulatory systems and complete extensive interviews with overseas regulators. The Board’s partnerships with regulatory and organizational safety experts from Australia and the United Kingdom have strengthened our investigators’ knowledge of various offshore safety regimes.
In the US, our investigators continue to assess the offshore safety regulatory regime before the Deepwater Horizon accident through interviews with personnel from the former Minerals Management Service and industry regulatory specialists. CSB investigators are also reviewing new regulations and recent changes that the newly formed offshore safety regulator, the Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, has made to improve offshore safety over the past year. The CSB is examining the importance of a competent, independent regulator and of the application of safety regulations to all offshore exploration and production employers including contractors and subcontractors.
The first component of our investigation will focus on these regulatory safety issues to determine if the current and proposed U.S. regulatory scheme can adequately prevent another major accident and protect offshore workers.
The CSB is evaluating the application to offshore major accident prevention of more rigorous safety management systems already in use by the oil industry in other sectors, such as refining. The CSB is examining more effective existing safety standards applicable to key rig equipment, and automatic controls that could implement predetermined corrective actions if operating conditions exceed safe limits. The lack of such controls likely played a role in the accident but have not yet been examined and reported by other investigative bodies.
Our investigators are closely examining human factors issues including fatigue, financial incentive programs, pressures related to scheduling and cost containment. The CSB will evaluate the need for effective safety performance indicators to help prevent an offshore tragedy of this magnitude from happening again.”
Earlier Wednesday, Hydrocarbon Processing recapped the year following the BP-operated rig explosion and examined what it could mean for the future of downstream industries. That article can be found here.
The CSB is an independent US federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents. The board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
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