Deepwater Horizon Spill

I believe the Deepwater Horizon accident was associated with both cost cutting as well as a faulty process safety culture. As mentioned in some of the key issues of the case, the areas which led to the oil spill were results of issues with the blowout preventer, cementing the drill casing, and questionable results of the negative pressure testing. Furthermore, the Deepwater Horizon rig was being leased at a significant cost from Transocean; therefore, the use of the rig was limited (Crandall, Parnell & Spillan, 2013).
Nonetheless, as you consider the overall impact of the oil spill, a majority of the problem was a result of an ineffective safety culture. It is evident, although safety procedures were in place for the workers to exit, there were additional individuals on the rig to include visitors, other contracted employees, who possibly were not trained in all the procedures for safety (Crandall, et al., 2013).

Moreover, the cementing process for drill casing was compromised by both BP and Halliburton when decisions were made to proceed with designing the well with fewer centralizers that were needed for an effective shaft (Crandall, et al., 2013). Lastly, there were questionable results of the pressure testing, which were a result of BP lacking standard procedures and lack of knowledge in interpreting test results (Crandall, et al., 2013). Failure of BP management, as well as the additional contractors to ensure proper mechanisms were in place to confirm safety of the various areas which played an integral role in the drilling aspect resulted in the oil spill which proved to be a major crisis for