CSB offers update on Deepwater Horizon investigation
Washington – The Chemical Safety Board recently announced it plans to issue a final report on the Deepwater Horizon explosion in early 2013, as well as two interim reports with recommendations this year.
The announcement came on April 19, the eve of the two-year anniversary of the Macondo well blowout and explosion that killed 11 workers and caused a massive oil explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
So far, CSB’s investigation has identified a need for more rigorous incident prevention programs for offshore operations. Among the issues investigators will continue to examine:
- Whether or not industry and regulatory agencies learned from previous incidents
- Lack of human factors guidance
- Organizational issues that impaired engineering decisions
- Blowout preventer deficiencies
- Inadequate hazard analysis requirements
- Near-miss issues
- Corporate safety governance and sustainability standards
CSB also plans to host several public hearings, the first of which is scheduled for July, to discuss how offshore operators and regulators can use leading and lagging indicators to improve safety.
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