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5. Communication Problems

BP had a communication plan in place to alleviate some of the confusion
about who should make decisions concerning rig operations and when such
decisions should be made. According to the BP’s communication plan, BP was
responsible for all of the decisions being made on the Deepwater Horizon.

The communication plan depicted direct lines between the well site
leaders and onshore personnel; and there were multiple daily meetings between
BP personnel in Houston and personnel on the Deepwater Horizon. Nonetheless,
the Panel found evidence that BP personnel in Houston did not transfer critical
information to rig personnel. As noted previously in this Report, this
communication failure, which resulted in the rig crew being unaware of
increasing operational risks, may have created a false sense of security among
those on the rig.

6. Health and Safety

The stated goal of BP’s safety policy was “[n]o accidents, no harm to
people and no damage to the environment.” As referenced earlier in this Report,
BP’s safety rules (called the “golden rules”) provided key controls and
procedures with which the workforce must comply. BP’s golden rules also
required identifying the hazards and assessing the risks associated with the
activities on a regular basis.

Kent Wells testified about BP’s safety policies:

Well, so our belief around safety is that we need everyone feeling
responsible for not only their own personal safety but the safety of the
people around.

And so our – our policies and our procedures and our approach are sort of
geared towards trying to create that safety culture so itʹs not where one
person is trying to do it. We try to have everybody thinking about what
are the hazards, what activity are we going on.

We have a policy of stopping the job. We hopefully make sure that every
single employee out there knows that at any point they can stop the job

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