Features

Abuse of power As BP – until this year Britain’s biggest company – reels from the impact of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the UK government embarks on an unprecedented push to impose the deadly BP business model across the whole nation.
Hazards 111, July-September 2010

No clean start for BP
Departing BP boss Tony Hayward, 53, will receive a £600,000 ($940k) annual pension, a £1.045m ($1.6m) pay off and more in shares. Bereaved families and other less celebrated victims of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, will not fare so well.
Hazards 'green jobs' blog, 30 July 2010

Don’t demonise BP bosses, jail them
Can you have serial crimes but no criminal? BP’s well-heeled directors have proved as slippery as the gulf’s oil smeared coastline, with none so far facing criminal charges relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster or other deadly incidents.
Hazards Green jobs blog, 4 June 2010

We told you BP couldn’t be trusted
Directors of BP's London-based global board seem to be above justice when it comes to the firm's serial workplace safety and environmental crimes. The disaster-prone board generally escapes criticism from politicians, uses slick PR to fend off press attacks and has evaded all blame and punishment for a sequence of industrial and environmental catastrophes. But these may now be coming too frequent and too serious to ignore.
Hazards green jobs blog, 24 May 2010

The bottom line
Do the money markets care when a mine explodes and 29 workers die? Or a refinery blast kills 15? Not a bit, warns Hazards, which is why the possibility of jail for top company directors could give them something other than the share price to think about.
Hazards 110, April-June 2010

BP, the killer they like to forgive
In November 2009 UK magazine the New Statesman announced its ranking of ‘20 green heroes and villains.’ Among the ‘panel of environmental experts’ judging the awards was John Browne, the UK peer whose reputation was earned at the helm of global petrochemicals giant BP. Hazards green jobs blog, 22 November 2009

Escaping scrutiny Fewer than 1 in every 15 major injuries at work now result in a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation. Justice suffers too, with absolutely no HSE enforcement action in almost 98 per cent of cases. But Tory plans to give firms a get-out-of-jail card could make a bad situation much, much worse, Hazards editor Rory O’Neill warns.
Hazards 108, October-December 2009

Beyond prison?
Some of Britain’s biggest companies have seriously neglected their safety responsibilities, with deadly consequences. Hazards takes a look at BP, and asks how bad will it have to get before a top boss ends up behind bars.
Hazards 97, January-March 2007

News

USA: BP agrees to record death blast fine
London-based oil multinational BP has agreed to pay a fine of $50.6 million (£32.5m) for violations related to the 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery that killed 15 and injured 170. The company also must pay another $500 million to protect workers at the plant, Labor secretary Hilda Solis said.
OSHA news release, remarks by Labor secretary Hilda Solis and the full agreement [pdf] • USW statement. AFL-CIO Now blog • FairWarning • BBC News Online • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 470 • 21 August 2010

USA: Labour shortages increase offshore risks
The US offshore oil industry is struggling to address the pervasive problem of undertrained and overstretched workers on deepwater rigs like the one used in the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. As the number of huge, high-tech drilling rigs has soared in recent years, finding and keeping experienced staff has become a growing challenge for the offshore industry.
Wall Street Journal •  Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

USA: BP safety boss ‘rather offensive’
A top safety official at BP last month faltered in an attempt to defend the company's safety record before a US Senate committee. BP's vice president of health and safety, Steve Flynn, vowed profit does not supersede safety at the oil multinational, a claim that failed to mollify members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's employment panel.
New York Times • In These Times • Washington Post • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 468 • 7 August 2010

USA: BP’s clean up safety claims queried
BP monitoring figures that show even the oil clean-up workers in the riskiest jobs in the Gulf of Mexico are generally having minimal exposures to hazardous chemicals have been queried by experts. Eileen Senn, an occupational hygienist and long-time workplace safety official, pointed to 10 separate shortcomings in the quality of the company's data release, which OSHA said concentrated on workers with the heaviest potential exposures, including the move to sample for 11 chemicals when many more substances are potentially present in Gulf air.
New York Times • Labor Notes • Sciencecorps on the Gulf oil spill hazards • Risks 367 • 31 July 2010

Who pays BP’s disaster bill? You do
If you thought the multi-billion dollar costs of destroying refineries and oil rigs (and killing workers, ruining livelihoods and wrecking the environment in the process), might have a chastening effect on BP, you might need to think again. BP is forecast to pay about $10bn less tax over the next four years as it meets the costs of its huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, hitting the revenues of Britain and the US that receive hundreds of millions of dollars from the company each year.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 465 • 17 July 2010

Britain: Government to adopt BP business model
John Browne, Tony Hayward’s predecessor as chief executive of BP, has been appointed by the UK government to oversee moves to make Whitehall “more businesslike.” Lord Browne was the architect of the much criticised BP cost- and safety-cutting strategy implicated in the Texas City refinery disaster, which killed 15, and a sequence of other safety and environmental crimes.
Cabinet Office news release • Green jobs, safety jobs blog • BBC News Online • AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

Britain: BP’s unsafe UK record exposed
The troubled oil giant BP has been caught breaking health and safety regulations 54 times over the past five years in the UK, according to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) records. The official action against the British multinational relates to a series of maintenance and operating lapses which put workers and the environment at risk from major leaks, fires and accidents in the North Sea and elsewhere.
Sunday Herald • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 463 • 3 June 2010

USA: BP disaster victims could lose out
Thanks to a 90-year-old legal loophole, the families of the 11 workers killed on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig may be denied full compensation for the loss of their loved ones. Under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), unlike occupational fatalities on land – where the worker's family can sue for both pecuniary (lost wages) and non-pecuniary damages (recompense for the loss of a loved one) - the families of the victims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster are only able to recoup lost wages.
In These Times • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

USA: Probe to fine ‘root causes’ of BP well disaster
The Chemical Safety Board (CSB), the organisation that investigated BP’s Texas City disaster and pinned much of the blame on the company’s London-based global board, is to investigate the “root causes” of the latest industrial catastrophe blighting BP’s record.
CSB investigation announcement [pdf] • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

USA: Oil companies all fail the safety test
Members of the US Congress tore into the big energy corporations on 15 June for filing almost identical and identically flawed Gulf of Mexico oil spill response plans. The verbal assault by committee members undermined attempts by the oil giants to suggest that their working practices differ from those of BP; and that the catastrophe, which killed 11 workers, would not have happened if the well had been theirs.
Green jobs blog • Risks 461 • 19 June 2010

Britain: US oil spill prompts UK rig action
Energy secretary Chris Huhne has said the UK government will increase its inspection of drilling rigs and monitoring of offshore compliance with legal standards. In addition to increased scrutiny by his department (DECC), the government has asked a new oil industry-led group, OSPRAG, to report back on the UK’s ability to prevent and respond to oil spills.
DECC news release • HSE comment on Deepwater Horizon • The Independent • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: Don’t just criticise BP ‘criminals’, try them
Can you have serial crimes but no criminal? Critics say BP’s directors have proved as slippery as the gulf’s oil smeared coastline, with none so far facing criminal charges relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster or other deadly incidents.
The White House blog • US Department of Justice news release • The Progressive • Creators.com • ITUC/Hazards green jobs, safe jobs blog and related BP criticism • Think Progress • CNN News • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

USA: Rig spill clean up makes workers sick
A chemical dispersant being used to fight the gulf oil spill is making workers sick, recent reports suggest. The disaster, where BP has failed repeatedly to stem the oil gusher and which started with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers, has led to an increasing clamour for criminal charges to be levelled at BP, the company that owns the well.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • New York Times • Minnesota Independent • Working In These Times • Truthout • Nola.com • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Fairwarning • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Britain: BP spill prompts North Sea discussions
North Sea oil industry leaders have created an advisory group to review procedures in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster. The Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) was formed by the industry body Oil and Gas UK and includes offshore unions Unite and RMT, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other government agencies.
Offshore Magazine • BBC News Online • Risks 459 • 5 June 2010

Global: Will BP’s ‘disaster-prone’ board face jail?
Directors of BP’s London-based global board seem to be above justice when it comes to the firm's serial workplace safety and environmental crimes, claims a new report. Campaigning magazine Hazards, which has been monitoring the multinational’s safety performance for years, says if more attention had been paid to BP’s deadly workplace safety record the risks would have been “shockingly apparent”.
ITUC/Hazards green jobs blog and BP webpages • The Daily Beast • Greenpeace BP logo competition • CBS News • Risks 458 • 29 May 2010

USA: Obama to set up oil spill commission
US President Barack Obama has vowed to end the “cosy relationship” between oil companies and US regulators in the light of the Gulf of Mexico disaster. He also condemned “the ridiculous spectacle” of oil executives “falling over each other to point the finger of blame.”
BBC News Online on the presidential commission and the blame game •   The Guardian • In These Times • Center for Public Integrity news report • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

USA: More regulation is the solution
Whether the problem is blood spilled in the workplace or oil spilled in the oceans, a series of recent disasters show why more regulation of profit-hungry industries is needed, a US union leader has said. “Twenty-nine dead coal miners in West Virginia, seven dead workers at an oil refinery in Washington State and 11 dead on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig followed by an ecological calamity, all in the span of a month, illustrate in blood the need for more regulation and stiffer enforcement,” said Leo W Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers (USW).
AFL-CIO Now blog • In These Times • Risks 456 • 15 May 2010

Global: BP accused over rig safety
Oil giant BP is facing accusations that it lobbied against new offshore safety rules and breached “numerous regulations” at a rig that exploded on 20 April, where 11 workers are missing presumed dead.
Huffington Post • The Guardian • Risks 454 • 1 May 2010

USA: BP fined again for ‘wilful’ safety breaches
The US government safety watchdog has fined British oil giant BP PLC $3 million (£2m), citing a catalogue of ‘wilful’ safety breaches at its Toledo, Ohio, refinery. The move comes just four months after it imposed a record safety penalty on the company over its refinery in Texas.
OSHA news release • Wall Street Journal • Risks 447 • 13 March 2010

Britain: HSE warns oil industry
HSE chair Judith Hackitt has warned the UK oil and gas industry that they must not allow short-term business pressures to blind them to the real and potentially devastating human and business consequences of neglecting process safety and asset integrity. Unions have campaigned for many years for a tougher line against the oil and gas extraction and processing industry which, they claim has a lack safety culture and are not doing enough to ensure that their ageing rigs are safe.
HSE press release • Risks 444 • , 20 February 2010

USA: Poisoned BP workers get $100m payout
A federal jury in Texas has ordered UK-based multinational BP plc to pay $100 million (£62.5m) to 10 workers who were sickened by a 2007 chemical release at its Texas City refinery. Tony Buzbee represents another 133 workers suing BP over the chemical release and says originally his clients asked BP for $5,000 each in damages, but went to trial when BP wouldn't budge from a $500 settlement offer to each worker.
Buzbee Law Firm news release • Houston Chronicle • Risks 438 • 9 January 2009

Britain: HSE pulls director leadership case histories
The Health and Safety Executive has removed a “directors’ leadership” case history on BP from its website, after the watchdog was criticised for providing an undeserved public relations push for “a serial safety offender.” The criticism of BP came in a 2 November letter sent by campaigning magazine Hazards to HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger in the wake of a record US safety fine on BP for failing to remedy hundreds of problems at its Texas City refinery.
Letter from Hazards to HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger • HSE director leadership case histories • Risks 432 •  14 November 2009

USA: BP hit with largest ever safety fine
British multinational BP has been hit with the USA’s largest ever safety fine. US labor secretary Hilda Solis announced on 30 October that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had levied the largest fine in its history - $87.4 million [over £53m] - against BP for failing to correct safety problems identified after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City refinery.
OSHA/Department of Labor news release and BP prosecution webpage • New York Times • AFL-CIO blog • BBC News Online • Risks 431 • 7 November 2009

Global: BP ‘failed’ to make safety changes
London-based multinational BP’s claims to have long since addressed the safety malaise in its refineries have been discredited after the latest intervention by the US safety regulator. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) told BP last month it had failed to make agreed-upon safety improvements at its Texas City refinery following the March 2005 explosions that killed 15 workers.
Galveston Daily News • Risks 426 • 4 October 2009

Global: Browne’s BP blast ignorance revealed
It took more than a year for a dogged Texan lawyer, Brent Coon, to get the former BP boss Lord Browne to answer questions on the legal record about the Texas City oil disaster. A transcript of an hour-long deposition given by Browne about the 2005 tragedy at BP's Texas City refinery in which a group of exhausted labourers overfilled a dilapidated vertical drum with chemicals, causing an explosion which showered burning liquid over accommodation trailers nearby revealed Browne had extremely limited knowledge of the incident.
Transcript of Lord John Browne deposition [pdf] • Brent Coon Texas City Explosion website and court documents • The Guardian • Risks 367 • 2 August 2008

Britain: BP again avoids a jury verdict
London-based oil multinational BP Plc has again avoided a jury verdict over the deadly 2005 explosion at its Texas refinery by settling claims of four injured workers before all evidence could be presented in a court case in Galveston, Texas. The curtailed legal proceedings have ensured top BP bosses at the time of the disaster have avoided the stand.
Risks 366 • 26 July 2008

Britain: BP neglect caused asbestos cancer
BP Oil UK has been told it must pay compensation to the family of a former worker who died from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Unite member Wilf Human worked at the firm’s refinery on the Isle of Grain from 1957 until 1979.
Risks 363 • 5 July 2008

USA: BP looks to cut costs again
The oil giant BP has said it will cut 5,000 jobs, about 5 per cent of its global workforce, after reporting “very disappointing” profits after refining margins were squeezed and costs rose. It was a similar cost cutting programme in 2004 that an investigation concluded contributed to the March 2005 BP Texas City refinery blast that killed 15 and injured 170.
Houston Chronicle • Risks 342 • 9 February 2008

USA: The refinery that just keeps on killing
US investigators have opened a probe into the latest death at BP's Texas City refinery, the third since 15 people were killed there in a catastrophic March 2005 explosion. Preliminary reports suggested a chemical explosion may have contributed to over-pressuring, leading a lid on a water vessel to rip from its bolts, causing William Gracia, a veteran BP supervisor, fatal head injuries.
Risks 340 • 26 January 2008

Global: BP exhausts $1.6bn Texas claims fund
London-based oil multinational BP has said it has spent all of its $1.6 billion (about £0.8bn) fund for paying claims over the refinery explosion in Texas and faces unknown costs for the remaining claims. The company had already increased the size of the fund twice as more claims were filed and settled.
International Herald Tribune • 22 December 2007

Global: BP gets record fine and probation
The US Department of Justice has fined UK-based oil multinational BP a total of $373m (£182m), for breaking environmental and safety rules and committing fraud. The fines include $50m relating to the Texas refinery explosion in 2005 that killed 15 people and injured 180 more, with this penalty also including three years probation.
BP news release • EPA news release • The Pump Handle • 3 November 2007

USA: BP faces court over Texas blast
Executives of UK-based oil giant BP have given evidence in a state court in Galveston, Texas, about the March 2005 blast in which 15 workers died and dozens were injured. However, former global BP boss Lord Browne will not be required to give evidence, after the company agreed to settle compensation cases with four injured workers
USW news release • International Herald Tribune • See excerpts of the trial online • 22 September 2007

Britain: Rewards for failure debate dogs ex-BP boss
Disgraced former BP chief executive Lord Browne topped the executive pension league in 2006 with a retirement package worth more than £1m a year. He has also joined Riverstone Holdings, a US private equity firm that invests in energy businesses, as a managing partner based in London but operating globally.
The Guardian • Financial Times • 1 September 2007

Britain: BP boss survives safety scandals unscathed
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has said it will fine London-based multinational BP $92,000 (£44,700) for new safety breaches at its Texas City refinery. The company’s recently unseated global boss whose cost cutting programme was blamed for some of the company’s poor safety performance, meanwhile, has been given the plumb post of Tate Gallery trustee by Gordon Brown.
OSHA news release • BBC News Online on the BP fine and on Lord Browne’s new trustee role • 28 July 2007

UK/USA: BP explosion report ‘toned down’
BP’s internal investigator admitted in sworn testimony that his final draft report on the UK company’s management responsibility for the 2005 Texas refinery explosion was toned down. The admission came less than a week after another contract worker died at the Texas City plant.
Financial Times • Boston Herald • 16 June 2007

USA: Second implicated BP boss goes
The head of BP's refining operations has quit to take up a job in Canada, ending a persistent clamour for his resignation since a fatal explosion ripped through the oil company's Texas City plant in 2005. John Manzoni’s resignation came just a month after the confidential BP ‘Bonse’ report was made public that accused him of failing to perform his duties in the run-up to the explosion and of engaging in a “simply not acceptable” standoff with a colleague.
The Guardian • 9 June 2007

Global: Good riddance to Lord Browne
When BP chair Peter Sutherland said it was “a tragedy” that BP boss Lord Browne – implicated in the 15 deaths at the March 2005 Texas City explosion - “should be compelled by his sense of honour to resign in these painful circumstances,” it caused considerable comment in the US. Houston Chronicle business columnist Loren Steffy said: “A tragedy? No, that would have been more than two years ago in Texas City. Where was Browne’s sense of honour then?”
BP news releases on Houston Chronicle • Confined Space@TPH • AFL-CIO Now • 12 May 2007

Britain: BP faces further safety attacks
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has ordered BP to improve safety on its North Sea oil and gas installations, issuing 14 notices to the energy group in the past year. So far the stipulations in 10 of the notices have been met. Offshore union Unite said it was not surprised, given BP's safety record, that it had received so many improvement notices.
The Guardian • 12 May 2007

Britain: BP investors turn on Browne over pay package
BP investors have approved a pay report which guarantees a multi-million pound payout to beleaguered chief executive Lord Browne – despite a substantial shareholders’ revolt over a string of safety and environmental blunders which had lead to deaths and an enormous financial and reputational cost to the company.
Risks 302 • 21 April 2007

Britain: BP under pressure to link board pay to safety
BP faces an April showdown with its shareholders over the failure of the oil giant to link the pay of its London-based global board to health and safety performance. The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), an investment body whose members own 1.2 per cent of the group's shares, plans to vote against the company's remuneration report at BP’s annual meeting on 12 April.
Risks 300 • 31 March 2007

Britain: Probe traces BP Texas blast blame back to London
The final official report into the Texas City disaster, which killed 15 people and injured a further 180, has accused top BP bosses of ignoring warnings that a disaster was imminent. The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board's (CSB) report concluded that cost cuts mandated by the company's London headquarters contributed to the tragedy and the BP board knew of the problems in Texas but did “too little and too late”.
Risks 299 • 24 March 2007

Global: BP fought off Texas safety controls
UK multinational BP successfully lobbied against tighter environmental controls by regulators in Texas, saving $150m (£77m) in monitoring and equipment upgrades prior to the fatal Texas City refinery explosion in 2005, internal documents show.
Risks 297 • 10 March 2007

Britain: BP internal blast report called for sackings
BP's internal investigation into management accountability for the oil company's fatal Texas refinery explosion called for the sacking of four senior executives, according to a newspaper report. A 14 February Financial Times report says those marked for the axe included Mike Hoffman, who recently retired as the UK company's group vice-president for refining and marketing; Pat Gower, US refining vice-president; Don Parus, the Texas City refinery manager who has been on leave since the accident; and Willie Willis, a plant employee who had apparently being groomed to succeed Mr Parus.
Risks 295 • 24 February 2007

Britain: BP profits hit by safety failures and delays
BP has been forced to slash some production targets by up to 20 per cent and increase capital expenditure in a bid to tackle safety and output problems in the aftermath of accidents in the US. The oil giant made a profit of $3.9bn (£2bn) in the last three months of 2006, down from $4.4bn a year earlier, although overall profits for 2006 were up 15 per cent to $22.3bn.
Risks 293 • 10 February 2007

Britain: Injury lawyers say it’s time for boardroom jail terms
Top personal injury lawyers have said a realistic prospect of jail time for top bosses who neglect their safety responsibilities is necessary if the issue is to be taken seriously in Britain’s boardrooms. They were commenting after a series of reports implicated BP’s London-based global board in cost cutting and mis-management that contributed to the Texas City refinery blast that killed 15.
Risks 292 • 3 February 2007

Britain/USA: “Iron clad” evidence cost-cutting hurt BP safety
BP is to receive another damning indictment over the Texas City refinery explosion when a new report links the disaster to cost-cutting by the British oil group. Carolyn Merritt, chair of the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB), an independent, government-backed agency, said a report to be released on 20 March will pin some of the responsibility on BP budget cuts.
Risks 291 • 27 January 2007

USA/Britain: Call for BP chiefs to have bonuses linked to safety
Shareholders are calling for BP directors to have their bonuses linked closer with the company's safety and environmental performance, following incidents such as the March 2005 Texas City refinery fire, where 15 people were killed and 180 were injured. The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum has called on BP chair Peter Sutherland to address the issue of how senior executives' pay is related to non-financial issues, following the highly critical Baker Panel Report which found the blame went all the way to the UK-based global board.
Risks 290 • 20 January 2007

Global: Finger points at Browne on BP safety
BP chief executive Lord Browne was aware of safety concerns at the company’s Texas City refinery for at least two years before a deadly explosion at the plant. An internal email suggested Lord Browne, the London-based global head of the company, knew of problems at Texas City as early as 2003 and that he was personally monitoring the site's monthly safety statistics.
Risks 287 • 16 December 2006

USA: BP neglects victims, kills some more, spies on critics
The already tarnished image of London-based oil giant BP is taking further flak, after the deaths of more workers at its US installations, accusations that it has reneged on promises to the injury victims of last year’s Texas City blast, and allegations it spied on a bereaved daughter and her lawyer.
Risks 286 • Confined Space on recent BP deaths and the Texas City aftermath • 9 December 2006

Global: Fatal errors put BP’s reputation ‘in the toilet’
BP’s carefully nurtured ethical reputation has been seriously damaged by a series of safety and environmental catastrophes. Athan Manuel, director of lands protection at the Sierra Club, a North American environmental network, said: “Their reputation is pretty much in the toilet.”
Risks 284 • 25 November 2006

Global: BP ‘knew of Texas City worries’
An investigation into an explosion at BP's Texas City oil refinery has pointed the blame at the company's London-based global management for failing to heed warnings of catastrophic safety problems, aggravated by a “cheque-book mentality”. Chemical Safety Board chair, Carolyn Merritt, blamed the explosion on “ageing infrastructure, overzealous cost-cutting, inadequate design and risk blindness.”
Risks 281 • 4 November 2006

Britain: BP chief in US court escape bid
BP chief executive Lord Browne has been granted a reprieve from giving evidence in a US federal court over a March 2005 fatal explosion at the oil company’s Texas City refinery, after 52 claimants agreed to seek a settlement with BP. The chief executive had been due to give a six-hour deposition within the next three weeks after being ordered to testify by a US federal court, but could still be ordered to give evidence to a Texas court.
Risks 278 • 14 October 2006

Britain: BP kicks off global safety probe
Fundamental changes to the way BP works could be implemented as part of a worldwide safety initiative following a devastating refinery blast in the US, the energy giant has confirmed. The group, which is facing pressure from major investors, says it is carrying out a root-and-branch global safety review in the wake of last year's explosion in Texas City in which 15 people died and 170 were injured.
Risks 275 • 23 September 2006

Global: Lord Browne ordered to testify in BP deaths case
Injured workers and families of those killed in an explosion at BP's Texas City refinery last year scored a court victory this week when a judge ordered the London-based company's top two executives to give depositions in the case. A Texas State Court ordered that Lord John Browne, the London-based head of BP’s global operations, must testify in litigation related to a fatal March 2005 accident at the Texas refinery.
Risks 272 • 2 September 2006

USA: Deadly BP gets a visible reminder
A billboard just a block away from the main entrance to BP’s Texas City plant commemorates two workers, Raymundo C Gonzalez Jr and Leonard Maurice Moore Jr, who were gravely injured when a pipe ruptured at the plant on 2 September 2004, both succumbing to their injuries in the following weeks.
Risks 271 • USMWF report and website • 26 August 2006

Global: More profits, more deaths at BP
As the media oozed praise for global oil giant BP this week on the announcement of record quarterly profits, another BP statistic went largely unmentioned. A US contract worker became the firm’s latest casualty, killed at the same BP Texas City plant where 15 died in an explosion last year.
Risks 267 • 29 July 2006

USA: BP raises refinery blast payout
Oil giant BP has set aside an extra $500m (£270m) to cover claims from the victims of an explosion at one of its refineries in Texas last year. It has already allocated $700m (£380m) for the March 2005 blast, which killed 15 people and injured 180. More on BP’s safety record.
Risks 264 • 8 July 2006

Global: Deaths trim bonus of UK’s best paid boss
Britain’s best paid boss has seen his annual bonus trimmed back to just £1.75m as a result of workplace fatalities at the firm reaching a six year high. The performance bonus of Lord John Browne, chief executive of London-based BP, has been cut as a result of a six year record 27 deaths at BP facilities worldwide.
Risks 249 • 25 March 2006

USA: Criminal probe takes shape over BP blast
Civil and criminal investigations of BP appear to be heating up in the US, 10 months after the March 23 explosion at its Texas City refinery. FBI agents and criminal investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency have begun exploring whether criminal wrongdoing on the part of the company or its managers could have caused the blast.
Risks 242 • 4 February 2006

USA: BP’s deadly crimes could go to trial
A BP report into the March fire that killed 15 at its Texas City refinery has acknowledged there were serious lapses in management’s safety approach. In a separate move, the government safety watchdog OSHA has said it is referring the case to the Department of Justice (DoJ), which will decide whether to bring a criminal prosecution against BP or BP bosses.
Risks 237 • 17 December 2005

USA: Deadly BP buries more bad news
In the US the day before a national holiday is known by the media as “take out the trash day”, a good day to bury bad news. BP, mired in controversy over its recent safety record, chose last weekend’s Thanksgiving break, the biggest holiday in the US calendar, to release two highly critical reports.
Risks 235 • 3 December 2005

USA: BP could have prevented deadly blast
The 23 March explosion at the BP Amoco Texas City Refinery that killed 15 workers and injured 170 could have been prevented if the refinery had taken basic safety measures and heeded past safety warnings, an official report has concluded. An independent panel into the blast convened by BP will be headed by former secretary of state James Baker, who ran election campaigns for three Republican presidents and whose law firm and institute have had recent financial links to BP.
Risks 231 • 5 November 2005

Global: UK giant BP faces flak over £12m safety fine deal
UK headquartered multinational British Petroleum (BP) is facing union criticism abroad after receiving the USA’s largest ever workplace safety fine, over US$21m (£12m), in a secret deal with safety authorities.
Risks 226 • 1 October 2005

USA/UK: UK review as BP could face crime unit probe
As UK oil multinational BP faces rumours of a probe by a criminal investigations unit in the US after a highly critical report of its safety practices, Risks can reveal the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is keeping a close eye on developments.
Risks 221 • August 2005

Britain/USA: BP disaster probe reaches London
The top government chemical safety body in the US has told BP’s London-based chief executive, Lord John Browne, there must be an “urgent” independent review of its refinery safety. The unprecedented call from the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) comes after a series of explosion’s at its US facilities, including the massive blast in March that killed 15.
Risks 220 • 20 August 2005

USA: BP plant blows up again
Federal investigators have launched a probe into an explosion at BP's Texas City plant, the second such incident this year. The earlier March 2005 blast killed 15 and injured 170 and has been linked to staffing cuts and equipment failure.
Risks 218 • 6 August 2005

USA: BP cost cutting linked to deadly explosion
BP’s massive programme of cutbacks on staffing and maintenance could have been at the root of the fatal Texas City refinery blast, according to a report in the Wall St Journal. It contradicts claims made by UK multinational BP in May that the disaster was the result of “surprising and deeply disturbing” mistakes by plant operatives and follows an official June report which found mechanical failures and improperly designed systems were to blame.
Risks 217 • 30 July 2005

USA: Unsafe BP not hurt by deadly explosion
The Texas City BP Amoco explosion that killed 15 workers and injured 170 won't hurt the giant energy company's bottom line, says the company.
Risks 214 • July 2005

Global: BP guilty of “corporate scapegoating”
UK multinational BP is facing a storm of criticism in the US after “scapegoating” workers for the Texas City refinery explosions that killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 in March, with a US union saying some of the blame can be traced back to the company’s London headquarters.
Risks 208 • 28 May 2005

USA: BP fined over S1.4m for safety violations
UK multinational BP has been hit by fines of $1.42m (£763,000) for safety violations on its Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska. In January 2002, BP has been fined a then record £1 million for safety breaches at its Grangemouth plant in the UK.
Risks 191 • 22 January 2005

Britain: Clean and green or industry whitewash?
Oil company BP has received more plaudits for its corporate responsibility - despite facing continuing criticism for its safety and environmental record over the last year.
Risks 148 • 20 March 2004

Report highlights BP management failings A series of management failures were responsible for life-threatening accidents at BP's Grangemouth complex, an official report has found. The report found standards had been allowed to slip, managers had not detected "deteriorating performance" and had failed to abide by the law. Hazards news, 22 August 2003

Worldwide Fund for Nature sells BP shares Worldwide Fund for Nature's UK arm (WWF-UK) is selling all of its BP shares in protest at the petrochemical giant's "slipping ethical standards". Hazards news, 5 February 2003

BP dropped by ethical Henderson Pirkko Juntunen BP has been suspended by Henderson Global Investor’s ethical funds because of environmental, health and safety issues in its Alaskan operations. The exclusion is a blow to the UK oil and gas group which has tried to improve its image and that of the industry. Henderson, part of Australia’s AMP group, said last week that its socially responsible investment (SRI) team had recently completed a review of BP’s safety and environmental performance in Alaska... Hazards news 13 January 2003

Another worker dies in BP Alaska accident
One man was killed and two others were injured while working on a high-pressure pipe at BP Exploration Alaska's North Slope, a BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. spokesperson said. Rodney Rost of Soldotna was killed when he was struck by a plug that blew out of the 28-inch pipe on which he was working.
Rigzone, 3 January 2003

Safety watchdog accused of stressing the BP positive UK health and safety watchdog HSE has helped publicise a safety award to BP Grangemouth, the company its own latest figures show was the recipient of the year’s top penalty for a workplace safety offence. Hazards news, 2 December 2002

USA: Underhand BP
In April 2002, North American Union UNITE criticised BP and other oil companies, all donors to the Bush presidential campaign, for killing a modest workplace chemical safety rule. Unions had wanted better controls on a group of reactive chemicals that between 1992 and 1997 had caused the deaths of 66 workers.
Risks 49 • 13 April 2002

Belgium: Under fire BP
In Belgium, workers who asked for safety improvements after an October 2001 fire at BP's Chembel chemical plant in Feluy were dismissed. The fired workers included an FGTB union representative on the plant's health and safety committee.
Risks 38 • 27 October 2001

 

 

Report highlights BP management failings
22 August 2003

A series of management failures were responsible for life-threatening accidents at BP's Grangemouth complex, an official report has found. The report found standards had been allowed to slip, managers had not detected "deteriorating performance" and had failed to abide by the law.

During the period between 29 May and 10 June 2000 three incidents occurred at the complex. BP was prosecuted for the failures and fined more than £1m in January 2002 (Risks 38).

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report is the result of a joint investigation with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

In a statement BP Grangemouth, said: "BP identified those areas where we had fallen short of our high expectations for our management of safety and environmental performance.” The statement added: "The lessons learned from the Grangemouth experience has been shared with other BP sites around the world."

However, Falkirk East MP, Michael Connarty, backed union claims that BP's plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs at the plant will jeopardise safety (Risks 107).

And BP’s reputation isn’t sweaky clean elsewhere, with its safety management also attracting criticism in Belgium (Risks 25) and the USA (Risks 69).

HSE was criticised by Hazards magazine last year for praising BP Grangemouth after it was given a European Agency safety award, two weeks after HSE’s own report said the company topped the national safety penalties list.

BBC News Online • HSE news release and executive summary of Major incident investigation report - BP Grangemouth, Scotland, May - June 2000. Full report.

 

Worldwide Fund for Nature sells BP shares

Worldwide Fund for Nature's UK arm (WWF-UK) is selling all of its BP shares in protest at the petrochemical giant's "slipping ethical standards".

The charity has instructed fund managers to sell off its entire 51,000 shareholding. It is a significant blow to BP, which often cites its five-year relationship with WWF-UK as an example of its environmental responsibility.

"We've decided to get rid of our shares in BP in line with our constant review of our investments," said Anita Neville, head of advocacy at WWF-UK. "We've been seeing increasing evidence from BP that it no longer deserves the best of sector title."

WWF-UK is particularly dismayed by BP's stance on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, and wants the company to improve safety standards following a series of oil well blasts that have seriously injured several workers.

The Third Sector, 5 February 2003

BP dropped by ethical Henderson Pirkko Juntunen [Financial News, 13 Jan 2003]

BP has been suspended by Henderson Global Investor’s ethical funds because of environmental, health and safety issues in its Alaskan operations. The exclusion is a blow to the UK oil and gas group which has tried to improve its image and that of the industry. Henderson, part of Australia’s AMP group, said last week that its socially responsible investment (SRI) team had recently completed a review of BP’s safety and environmental performance in Alaska. “It was prompted by a combination of regulatory incidents and whistle blowing by concerned employees, which was given added urgency by an explosion at one of its wells in August,” said a spokeswoman.

“While BP is clearly putting in place policies at the corporate level to raise its standards, its performance in Alaska prompted sufficient concern that we have suspended the company from our list of approved stocks for the retail SRI funds managed by Henderson. We continue to engage with the company, both about the specifics of Alaska and about more strategic issues of safety and labour relations.”

The tough stance against BP follows an accident last August when an explosion injured a worker. In December another accident killed a contract worker.

BP confirmed that it had received a letter from Henderson which said that the firm suspended its holdings in BP in its SRI funds.

A BP spokesman said: “We are disappointed and are seeking to meet with the Henderson SRI managers to better understand their concerns and questions. This is the only action of this kind we have seen from any SRI funds.”

An SRI consultant said Henderson had taken a bold step ahead of its competition. He said: “Fund managers in the UK tend to work with engagement rather than exclusion, but BP will have to work hard not to be excluded from European SRI portfolios, which sometimes are more strict.”

BP faces mounting criticism over its Alaskan operations. Recently a US judge forced BP to provide unrestricted access to state regulators to further comply with federal, state and local environmental and health and safety laws.

 

To Bill Callaghan, Chair, Health and Safety Commission

Dear Bill

HSE trumpets award for Britain's top safety offender

Interesting that you should choose to press release this award to BP Grangemouth.

BP Grangemouth was recipient of the country's highest workplace safety penalty, according to the figures you released last month.

Your support for BP doesn't sit too well alongside the policy of naming and shaming health and safety criminals, and makes your statements on corporate social responsibility seem a little, well, fainthearted. I'm sure the company is grateful for this opportunity to put a safe gloss on its dirty record.

Perhaps you should ask the companies for whom you do this free PR to give a public apology via an HSE press release when they are done for grievious health and safety offences?

Yours, aghast,

Rory O'Neill

Background notes
Stress initiative wins European award for British company. HSE 2 December 2002 news release. HSE nominated BP Grangemouth, the recipient this year of a record fine for safety offences, for the award (release in full below) • On the HSE site

Average health and safety fines up by over a third - but penalties still need to be tougher, warns HSC Chair.
HSE 18 November 2002 press release. The press release does not mention BP Grangemouth received the top health and safety penalty last year.

BP fined £1m for safety breaches. TUC Risks 26 January 2002 report on the BP fine.

HSE 18 January 2002 statement on the BP £1m fine.

E219:02
2 December 2002
STRESS INITIATIVE WINS EUROPEAN AWARD FOR BRITISH COMPANY

BP Grangemouth is one of twenty companies from across Europe who received an award in recognition of outstanding and innovative contributions to the prevention of psychosocial risks, especially work-related stress.

The awards, which were made by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, aim to acknowledge and motivate good practice activities and stimulate the sharing of practical solutions to prevent work-related stress.

BP Grangemouth submitted a low cost project using risk management to prevent potential stress arising from a plant commissioning project.

Accepting the award at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Project Manager David Wilson said: "Taking action to control stress delivers better technology programmes. The team at Grangemouth is confident to push hard knowing they will recognise stress and that everyone involved will welcome talking about ways to resolve it. I'm sure our experience can help a wide range of teams facing similar challenges."

Another British entry to receive recognition was Debenhams Retail plc which featured in the commended section for its work in preventing work-related violence in the retail sector.

Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, the Director of the Agency, said: "Work-related stress affects more than 40 million workers and is costing the EU an estimated 20 billion euro in absenteeism and related health costs every year - psychosocial risks hurt society and individuals. The good news is that psychosocial problems can be prevented, as the real business cases that will receive a European award clearly document. We hope that their example will inspire other private and public organisations, managers and workers to follow up with similar successful prevention efforts."

The award scheme forms part of European Week for Safety and Health at Work, which takes place every October and involves thousands of companies and organisations across Europe.

Promoted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK, this year's event saw a record breaking demand for action packs with more than 185,000 being despatched. The HSE is currently evaluating efforts made during the Week and will be announcing details of award winners early in 2003.

Notes to Editors:
1. For more information about the BP project, contact David Wilson, BP Grangemouth, tel: +44 (0) 1324 476863.
2. Further information on the award event and European Week 2002 can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/campaigns and http://osha.eu.int/ew2002/

Public Enquiries: Call HSE's InfoLine, tel: 08701 545500, or write to: HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG.

Press Enquiries: Journalists only: Colette Manning 0151 951 3450, out of hours 020 7928 8382. HSE information and press releases can be accessed on the Internet : http://www.hse.gov.uk

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