Current Events in April 2010,

Current Events

In April 2010, the Deep Water Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico would explode and sink to the bottom of the ocean floor. This would set off the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history, with the full impact of this event still unknown. In the aftermath of what took place, a series of accusations would surface; that BP knowingly circumvented safety regulations and had no emergency in plan, before the events that led up to the explosion. As a result, this would cause the public to feel a sense of anger about the disconnect that is occurring between key executives and how they handled the spill. In many ways one could effectively argue, that the BP disaster was the result of a lack of ethics, at the company that allowed for creation of a culture that would perpetuate the events, leading to the explosion. To fully understand the overall lack of ethics at the company and among key executives requires: examining the lack of ethics that were used in the events before the explosion. This will highlight; how the lack of ethics from: BP and the various executives would make the situation worse.

The Events before the Explosion

In the years before the explosion of the Deep Water Horizon, BP has a track record of knowingly putting their employees at risk. With the company's overall objective, to increase profit margins as much as possible. Evidence of this can be seen by looking at the company's environmental and safety track record. Where, BP has paid over $550 million in fines over the last two years, two of which were the largest penalties ever assessed by OSHA. Then, when you consider the fact that BP cut corners during the installation of the Deep Water Horizon, only underscores managements lack of ethics. (West, 2010) What happened was BP cut costs during the installation of the well as much as possible. Where, the company would emit safety guards and triggers because of this fact. A good example of this can be seen with, acoustic triggers. These are caps that are placed in deep water wells, to protect against an explosion could occur. Where, if such an incident takes place, the acoustic caps would automatically shut the well down from beneath the surface. The problem was that the cap cost $500,000.00 to install and was recommended by government regulations. (West, 2010) This significant, because it show a track record of the company knowingly putting its overall bottom line before safety or the environment. When you consider the fact that the company is making $93 million a day, this shows a lack of ethics on the part of managers and the company itself. (West, 2010) The cost to install the cap was: a small short-term investment that the company could afford. However, because it would cut into their profit margins and was not required; meant that the company would knowingly leave it out of the design. This would allow the spill to become even worse, as engineers and scientists have been struggling for weeks to shut it down.