” Critical Alarm System” Turned Off Before Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Explosion [Oil Disaster]

BP knew in regards to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig\’s safety risks a year ago. So, naturally, the \” critical alarm system\” that may\’ve warned workers bad things are happening was intentionally disabled before the explosion that took down the rig.

The rig\’s chief electrician, Michael Williams, testified yesterday that the alarm system was \” inhibited,\” its automaticness killed because managers \” didn’t want people woken up at 3 a.m. with false alarms.\” It had to be turned on manually, in this case. It wasn\’t.

The alarm system failures are just component of an extended list of problems and general neglect, the WSJ notes after reviewing a 60-page audit that still hasn\’t been made public: emergency power failures, despite indications the generators had problems; safety systems that may\’ve prevented the catastrophe never kicked in; skipped tests and shoddy procedures.

If it’s worthwhile to obliterate your feel-good weekend mood, look at the whole report: [WSJ, Image: Gerald Herbert/AP]

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This post is tagged: alarm, critical, Deepwater, disaster, explosion, Gulf, horizon, OFF, oil, system, Turned