24 Apr 2011

Report blames rig explosion on lax safety culture

12:06 pm on 24 April 2011

The US Coast Guard says a lax safety culture and poorly maintained equipment contributed to an oil rig explosion last year that killed workers and led to a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Deepwater Horizon rig burst into flames on 20 April 2010 while drilling a well for oil company BP.

Eleven workers died in the subsequent explosion and, in the months that followed, more than 780 million litres of oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico.

In a 288-page report released just over a year after the accident, the coast guard criticises practices and training of rig owner Transocean, the BBC reports.

The report finds equipment was poorly maintained and alarms and automatic shutdown systems did not work properly.

"Deepwater Horizon and its owner, Transocean, had serious safety management system failures and a poor safety culture," the report comments.

"Collectively, this record raises serious questions whether Transocean's safety culture was a factor that contributed to the disaster."

Earlier this month, it was revealed Transocean had paid its top executives bonuses for achieving what it described as the best year in safety in its history.