Crisis Management unit 2 Complete - Case Study Example

BP also lacked proper mechanism in terms of the procedure and interpretation of the results for the negative pressure tests and hence even when they detected the pressure on the drill pipes, they assumed it was false negative and the presence of pressure indicated there was a leak and the seal had not been well secured. This eventually fueled the fire which led to casualties and the spill of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico and ultimate loss to the BP Company, the Cameron International, Transocean and the government (Crandall, Parnell and Spillan, 2009).

The latest news about the BP explosion is that The BP engineer who was overseeing the safety and all other activities in the oil rig will be the first to be prosecuted and he will be taking the blame for the accident (Thompson and Galofaro, 2013). This is scapegoating as the accident was created by the neglect of several people and not only the engineer. The management should also be charged as being solely responsible as well and not take the engineer as a sacrificial lamb in the accident that not only cause massive damage but deaths as well.

The Deepwater Horizon accident was associated more with faulty process safety culture than with cost cutting. BP had used a lot of money in the process and due to fall back in the schedule, had incurred an additional $58 million not budgeted for. This however is not the reason that caused the accident. As explained in the summary above, BP overlooked some of the safety procedures required to seal of the BOP in order to ensure no gas leaks that could easily be ignited and cause a fire. The BOP had earlier on (a few weeks before) been slightly damaged but no action for repair or even mere inspection was carried out once funny and suspicious rubber pieces were found in the oil.

They also overlooked the fact that in order to completely seal the BOP, they had to use 21 centralizers. They had only six and instead of waiting for the rest to arrive, they decided to use those six. During the negative pressure test, when they discovered pressure being released, they termed it as a false negative pressure reading and the pressure seeped with the gas through the not completely sealed BOP and it was ignited causing the fire and the complete destruction of BOP which was slightly destroyed hence causing the oil spill.

The strategy BP undertook of ignoring the safety precautions and instructions standards set and the management providing instructions that overlooked the danger is what led to the crisis. On realization of the looming crisis whose signs were eminent for all to see, BP would have formed a crisis team to handle the situation but nothing of the sort was done. Since the management had the power, authority and mandate to make final decisions concerning the running of the whole process, their word concerning the crisis was final and their decision carried out.

Their neglectful and rush decisions are what majorly contributed to the accident. The first of the steps is to appoint and empower a safety precaution and investigation team which would be mandated to carry out safety checks as regularly as possible. Next would be to work hand in hand with the employees opening up direct communication with them so that in case of any faults in the rig or any other