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 • Find out more about BP’s deadly neglect • Risks 367
Hazards news, 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.
More on BP’s safety record • Risks 366
Hazards news, 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
Hazards news, 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
Hazards news, 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.
More on BP’s safety record • Risks 340
Hazards news, 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 • More on BP’s safety record
Hazards news, 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 • More on BP’s safety record
Hazards news, 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 • More on BP’s safety record • See excerpts of the trial online
Hazards news, 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 • Find out more on BP’s safety record
Hazards news, 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
Hazards news, 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 • Hazards BP safety webpages
Hazards news , 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 • More news on BP's safety record
Hazards news, 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 • Hazards webpages on BP’s safety record
Hazards news, 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
Hazards news, 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, 9 December 2006 • Confined Space on recent BP deaths and the Texas City aftermath

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 • Hazards BP webpages

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.
USMWF report and website • More on BP’s safety record

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

Safety watchdog accused of stressing the BP positive
2 December 2002

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.

The HSE news release says: “BP Grangemouth is one 20 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 release, which was given a second plug in a “ticker” on the homepage of the HSE website, adds: “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.”

However, the decision to “trumpet” the award to the company that topped the workplace safety fines list released by HSE two weeks ago (Risks 81), has attracted criticism.

A letter to Health and Safety Commission chair Bill Callaghan from campaigning magazine Hazards said: “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.”

The HSE news release on safety penalties made no mention of BP Grangemouth’s record £1 million safety offence (Risks 38).

* Hazards letter to HSC chair Bill Callaghan • HSE news release and information on the award event and European Week 2002 • European Agency news release.

Date: 2 December 2002