Creating a “No Blame” Culture

Pollution Solution

The recent BP oil spill has been widespread across the media; hailed as one of the worst oil spills in history. Most people don’t realize however, the number of oil spills that have taken place since the inception of oil drilling in the early 1900’s. One of the earliest oil spills that had significant affects on the ecosystem and the oil industry was the Ixtoc-1 oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico.

As long as we have been producing oil, both on land and offshore, we have had accidents associated with such large scale projects. In fact any mega-oil project, such as BP and many others around the world, has a high probability of failure and spills at some point in the process. Here’s a look at the top 10 oil spills in recent history;

Sustainable Solutions

The BP oil spill simply re-ignited our attention to the effects of oil spills and their impact on our environment, our current mindset and our renewed focus for sustainable solutions.
Oil spills, while they teach us a lot about improving current oil and gas infrastructure, at a more powerful level, they create the opportunity for breakthroughs in technology, communication and innovation, for at the most testing of times we often find our greatest solutions.

That’s where we are right now, at the crossroads of a new way of operating and implementing safer sustainable practices. To do this we must shift our view of oil spills from blame and finger pointing, to a “no blame” culture of responsibility, so to create innovative, imaginative and entrepreneurial SOLUTIONS. Responsibility meaning “able to respond” rather than a moral obligation. It’s about response, action and higher solutions.

Imagine if all our conversations, all our money and all our media coverage was committed to finding “solutions,” rather than blaming others at the time of the BP Oil Spill. Do you think we would have found faster solutions? Blame and media sensationalism is simply a waste of communication resources, where as communication networks that offer solutions and sustainability inspire us to create a better today!

While we haven’t quite evolved to a “no blame” culture, it is on the rise. With conscious awareness we are looking for the lessons when things break down, we are creating new avenues for opportunities and we are seeking a new energy-sustainable world.

BP, Transocean and Oceaneering International

Transocean, currently the largest offshore drilling contractors in the world, with over 20,000 employees, have been providing solutions for offshore development as a primary focus. There has been a focus in the field for detailed investigation, experimentation and development of Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV’s) leading the way in subsea operations.

Thomas Wainwright, Construction Engineer for BP in the Gulf, said that manipulating the ROV’s in deep water is like “trying to ring a doorbell with a broomstick on the end of a vehicle.” He says it was ‘impressive to see the work being done on the BP oil spill. Although it looks like it took forever, people don’t realize your flying something the size of car 6000 ft. below the surface.’

The Deep-water Horizon clean up operation was a revolution in oil spill response and technology, withup to 14 ROV’s working in the field at one time in close proximity, all of them moving and working, whilst more than 30 large vessels on the surface had to maneuver around an acute field, trying to control the excessive flow of oil into the Gulf. The capping of the well, and clean up operations brought people together from all over the world. It was a globally united effort.

The technological innovation utilized by ROV’s is nothing short of amazing. It’s ROV technology and other new and improved solutions that will provide us with oil spill solutions in the future. As we continue to innovate and envision a better more efficient fuel extraction process new technology will be revealed. Now is the time for our highest creativity for shared ideas, great vision and global collaboration.