An investigation into an explosion at BP's Texas City oil refinery has pointed the blame at the company's global management for failing to heed warnings of catastrophic safety problems, aggravated by a "cheque-book mentality".
The US Chemical Safety Board published its preliminary findings last night on the blast which killed 15 people and injured 180 others in March 2005 when a drum was overfilled, sending flammable liquids shooting "geyser-like" on to surrounding work trailers.
The board found that the same drum had caught fire eight times over the preceding decade - incidents which, it says, were not properly investigated.
Trailers were poorly placed and unsafe; antiquated equipment was in use, alarms and gauges did not work properly; and budgets were constantly pared down, the report says, adding that the disaster exposed broader failings in BP's safety culture. The board's chair, Carolyn Merritt, said: "BP's global management was aware of problems with maintenance, spending and infrastructure well before March 2005. BP did respond with a variety of measures aimed at improving safety. However ... catastrophic safety risks remained."
The findings could lead to more legal problems for the company. They come two weeks before the start of a court case in Houston brought by Eva Rowe, who lost both her parents in the explosion.
BP has already been fined $21.3m for the disaster by safety regulators.
A company spokesman said last night BP agreed with the board's finding that the explosion was a "preventable tragedy", but added: "We don't understand the basis of some of the comments."
Source: The Guardian
The US Chemical Safety Board published its preliminary findings last night on the blast which killed 15 people and injured 180 others in March 2005 when a drum was overfilled, sending flammable liquids shooting "geyser-like" on to surrounding work trailers.
The board found that the same drum had caught fire eight times over the preceding decade - incidents which, it says, were not properly investigated.
Trailers were poorly placed and unsafe; antiquated equipment was in use, alarms and gauges did not work properly; and budgets were constantly pared down, the report says, adding that the disaster exposed broader failings in BP's safety culture. The board's chair, Carolyn Merritt, said: "BP's global management was aware of problems with maintenance, spending and infrastructure well before March 2005. BP did respond with a variety of measures aimed at improving safety. However ... catastrophic safety risks remained."
The findings could lead to more legal problems for the company. They come two weeks before the start of a court case in Houston brought by Eva Rowe, who lost both her parents in the explosion.
BP has already been fined $21.3m for the disaster by safety regulators.
A company spokesman said last night BP agreed with the board's finding that the explosion was a "preventable tragedy", but added: "We don't understand the basis of some of the comments."
Source: The Guardian
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