Safety, Efficiency, and Productivity: Conflict or ... Efficiency, and Productivity: Conflict or Cooperative? The BP Deepwater Horizon Accident Personal Observations Najm Meshkati Professor.

Safety, Efficiency, and Productivity:Conflict or Cooperative?

The BP Deepwater Horizon AccidentPersonal Observations

Najm MeshkatiProfessor

Department of Civil/Environmental EngineeringDepartment of Industrial & Systems Engineering

University of Southern California2012 Fifth International High Reliability Organizing (HRO) Conference

Chicago, Tuesday May 22, 2012

BP Deepwater Horizon AccidentApril 20, 2010

BP Deepwater Horizon

BP Deepwater Horizon

BP Deepwater Horizon AccidentApril 20, 2010

11 workers lost their lives and 16 others were seriously injured.

The flow continued for nearly 3 months before the well could be completely killed, during which time, nearly 5 million barrels of oil spilled into the gulf.

National Academy of Engineering/National Research Council (NAE/NRC) Committee

Committee for Analysis of Causes of the Deepwater Horizon Explosion, Fire, and

Oil Spill to Identify Measures to Prevent Similar Accidents in the Future

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DisclaimerWhen you speak, we’d ask that you note the following in any written statement

or as you answer questions orally:

• 1) Our final report was released to the public on December 14, 2011. The committee of which I was a member has been disbanded; we are not continuing to work on the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Free copies of our report (pdf) are available at www.nap.edu.

•• 2) When you are answering a question, please make clear when you are

speaking based on the committee’s report and when you are answering based on your own personal experience and expertise. You may need to do this more than once during a public Q & A session. It is particularly important to do this clearly when – in your answer to a single question –you wish to speak about both what the report found and your own personal views or experience.

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Committee’s Origin and Tasks

Origin: Request from U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Salazar

Study Tasks: Examine probable causes of the Deepwater Horizon incident in order to identify measures for preventing similar harm in the future.

Committee Composition: 15 Members with expertise in geophysics, petroleum engineering, marine systems, accident investigations, safety systems, risk analysis, human factors and organizational behavior

Process: Consensus report with peer review

NAE/NRC Committee’s BP DWHReport

Macondo Well–Deepwater Horizon Blowout:Lessons for Improving Offshore Drilling

Safety

Released on Dec 14, 2011

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NAE/NRC BP DWH Committee Report December 2011

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The Deepwater Horizon

The Deepwater Horizon RigMobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU)

Deepwater Horizon’s Org Chart

Company man (Well Site Leader), Offshore Installation Manager (OIM)

& Master/CaptainOIM and Master

Two different Transocean employees werein charge of the rig at different times.Captain Curt Kuchta, Transocean’smaster, was in charge when the rig wasmoving from location to location.

Once the rig arrived at a given site andbegan drilling or drilling-relatedoperations, Jimmy Harrell, Transocean’soffshore installation manager (OIM),took over.

Most Important Technical Contributing Causes of the DWH Accident

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• Well design; Narrow drilling margins• Cementing:

• Cement material• Long string instead of a liner• Number of centralizers

• NPT Misinterpretation• BOP Failure• Alarm Systems• Mud-Gas Separator

Once well control was lost, the large quantities of gaseous hydrocarbons released onto the rig, exacerbated by low wind velocity and questionable venting selection, made ignition all but inevitable.

BP Deepwater Horizon

Personal Observations

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The ‘HOT’ Model, Safety Culture&

Major Subsystems of a Complex, Large-scale Technological System

(e.g., a nuclear power plant, refinery, chemical processing plant, hospital, or an offshore platform)

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Human

Organization

Technology

Volume of Output

Interactive Effect

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Human

Organization

Technology

Volume of Output

Interactive Effect

www.oilspillcommission.gov

Meshkati’s ObservationPage 223

• BP conducted its own accident investigation of Deepwater Horizon, but once again kept its scope extremely narrow.(31) Professor Najmedin Meshkati of the University of Southern California, Los Angles—a member of the separate National Academy of Engineering committee investigating the oil spill—criticized BP’s accident report for neglecting to “address human performance issues and organizational factors which, in any major accident investigation, constitute major contributing factors.” He added that BP’s investigation also ignored factors such as fatigue, long shifts, and the company’s poor safety culture.(32)

Site Visit – Deepwater Nautilusin the Gulf of Mexico

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Deepwater Nautilus

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BOP

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BOP

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BOP

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BOP

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NAE-NRC BP DWH Report’s Specific Findings

• The actions, policies, and procedures of the corporations involved did not provide an effective systems safety approach commensurate with the risks of the Macondo well. The lack of a strong safety culture resulting from a deficient overall systems approach to safety is evident in the multiple flawed decisions that led to the blowout. Industrial management involved with the Macondo well-Deepwater Horizon disaster failed to appreciate or plan for the safety challenges presented by the Macondo well. (Finding 5.1. p.77)

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NAE-NRC BP DWH Report’s Specific Recommendations

Fostering Safety Culture

Summary Recommendation 5.5: Industry should foster an effective safety culture throughconsistent training, adherence to principles of human factors, system safety and continuedmeasurement through leading indicators. (p.82)

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Safety Culture

Summary Recommendation 6.25: BSEE and other regulators should foster an effectivesafety culture through consistent training, adherence to principles of human factors,systems safety, and continued measurement through leading indicators. (p. 96)

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NAE-NRC BP DWH Report’s Specific Recommendations

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The New York Times EditorialDecember 19, 2011

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“The lack of strong safety culture”

Journal of Petroleum TechnologyMay 2010

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JPT May 2012

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JPT, May 2012 (P. 49)

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Global Implications

• About a 30% of the world’s oil production presently comes from offshore projects and it will increase to about 50% in 2015.

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Implications for the Gulf of Mexico:Cuba

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Implications for the Gulf of Mexico:Mexico

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Conclusion

Safety, Efficiency, and Productivity:Conflict or Cooperative?

Production Safety

A Requirement for Safety Culture:

A Balanced Approach Toward Production and Safety Goals

Economic/Competitive Schedule Pressure

Political & Regulatory Env.; Senior Management’sBiased Priorities, Policies, and Practices

Equilibrium

Inspired by Professor James Reason’s Human Error (1990)

An Unbalanced Approach Toward Production and Safety Goals

Equilibrium

Political & Regulatory Env.; Senior Management’sBiased Priorities, Policies, and Practices

Impr

ovem

ent

Time & Efforts

Y

X

Phase II?

Phase III?Phase I

Initial State

Safety

Quality/Productivity/Efficiency

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Human

Organization

Technology

Volume of Output

Interactive Effect

Technological systems’ failures“Accidents”?

orSystem designers’ ignorance

to consider / incorporateHRO Characteristics

+Managers’ incompetence

+Regulators’ arrogance

A Robust/Stable Technological System

BP Refinery AccidentMarch 23, 2005

© Financial

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