Equalizer: I’d strongly recommend reading the Baker report following the Texas City blast. Note, I’m referring to BakerRisk Group and NOT former Secretary of State James Baker (who was brought in as part of post-blast panel). The report he turned out was largely worthless, but the BRG (BakerRisk Group) report is worth a read.
I want to be a little careful, because BP is a client of mine, but it bears mentioning that most folks in the oil/gas business don’t do a great job of risk analysis and risk management. The reason? PRODUCTION. That’s the name of the game in the business, and most of the companies are doing their level best to squeeze as much production out of older and, in many cases, substandard, facilities as they can.
You don’t see true risk management and risk analysis any more. What you do see is, “how do I keep myself and my company out of court and cover my ass?” risk management. That, combined with the need to squeeze as much production out of these facilities and make them cash-flow properly, has landed us where we are today. Aided and abetted by loose and/or fairly non-existent regulations, we are now seeing accidents occurring on a much more regular basis. Whether its the Tesoro refinery in Washington State, or the Massey Energy mine in West Virginia, we’re now reaping what we’ve sowed.
And don’t even get me going on the nonsensical standards and guidelines for blast mitigation in the Force Protection (anti- and counter-terrorism arena).
