Transocean: We had a good safety year, except for those deaths
April 7, 2011 by Fred HosierPosted in: BP, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, fatigue, safety incentives
Transocean Ltd. says it had its “best year in safety performance in our company’s history” despite the explosion of its oil rig that killed 11 workers and spilled 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Its top executives will get two-thirds of their safety bonuses.
The company noted “the tragic loss of life” in the Gulf in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the AP. Transocean said it still had an “exemplary” safety record because it met or exceeded certain internal safety targets concerning the frequency and severity of its accidents.
Safety accounts for 25% of the executives’ total cash bonuses.
The filing said bonuses were appropriate as a way to recognize its executives’ efforts in “significantly improving the company’s safety record.”
While Transocean execs are getting safety bonuses, recent reports said federal prosecutors were deciding whether to pursue manslaughter charges against BP executives in connection with the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
What’s your opinion about the Transocean executives’ bonuses? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
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Tags: Deepwater Horizon, executive bonus, safety bonus, Transocean
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April 7th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Maybe their bonuses for such great safety should go directly to the oil beaten coast line clean up and repair. And to the people who lost so much. I feel the big shots should know where it belongs and it’s not in their pockets.
April 7th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
I think they should forfeit their bonus there were deaths……..25% of the bonus’ are Safety? And this company routinely uses equipment that the failure of can cause death and environmental disasters? Duh….. Such as in the Gulf? I think we can see where their priorities are. GGGGGGgggggggzzzzzzzzzz
Add the above to BP the Deepwater Horizon incident with the BP refinery in Texas that has had two explosions killing folk and a compressor leak that sent toxic gasses in the air. They would not shut down the compressor because production needed to be maintained. The compressor not being shut down released tons of toxic substances into the atmosphere and a near by town had a jump in cancer rates right after that and now that town is suing BP.
This is documented in the Chemical Safety Boards investigations. I find all of this disturbing, very disturbing and to me shows that some big business’ will not volunteer to fix things unless it is made to or there is a profit in it. The only organization that can make business do things is Government and many complain about “Big Government” and the costs involved. Look what happens when things are not regulated or there are no teeth in the regulations.
April 12th, 2011 at 10:06 am
Holy Sh**! Are you serious? What kind of bonus do you get if only 9 people die? or 5? I bet then you’d get 3/4 of the bonus.
April 12th, 2011 at 10:20 am
Didn’t the review committees dertermine that this whole event happened because the contractor did not regard their own system warning signals and didn’t follow their own emegency procedures to safe gaurd themselves? Unbelieveable!! This is a case of awarding bonuses just to award bonuses. And what’s worse, the total bonus amount will probably be more money than the individual states got to help the people and repair the infrasturcture of the various committees. This money should all be dedicated back to these areas. Has large corporate business lost it’s overall moral sense of responsibility??
April 12th, 2011 at 10:34 am
I believe that the safety execs DID donate their bonuses to some relief fund or other, but not sure which one.
Plenty of blame to go around in this fiasco!
April 13th, 2011 at 11:06 am
Blame and money do not fix the lost lives of the damage to the Gulf both human and the environment……….I cannot believe this story 25% of a bonus given for safety goals met when that disaster happened.
People complain about big Government and then who is to check this stuff?
April 14th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
So, if this is their “best year in safety performance in our company’s history” how many people have to die to qualify as a “bad” year? Nothing new here really. The denizens of boardrooms and high rise corner offices dwell in a different universe from the rest of us, the “little people”. These execs get their bonuses even when the corporations they lead collapse and thousands of “little people” lose thier jobs! What a world we live in!
April 18th, 2011 at 10:07 am
One of the problems is that many companies that have Process Safety hazards are still using the TRIR number as the only real basis for safety bonuses. Execs don’t understand anything else. Plus you have execs at Transocean who are clearly trying to distance themselves from the events - and throw in poor human nature of not wanting to admit that you failed.
OHSA needs to work harder to get rid of the TRIR metric as bonus incentive measure. It spurs under-reporting in some companies; in my company it means I spend much of my time trying to work injuries through loop-holes so they don’t end up on the TRIR. What I should really be doing is devoting my time to preventing the next one. A minor injury that requires a single prescription is as bad as a fatality on the TRIR. That is ridiculous. One thing my company does have is a serious injuries in a facility or business unit zeros out the safety bonus, regardless of TRIR. And for my business unit the TRIR objective is 15 times lower than the average for our industry for the last 3 years. Brings a lot of pressure to the job. I wonder how Transocean’s target compares?
April 18th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
I’ve been in the safety field a long time, I’ve built 12 hospitals and am currenly doing a runway for the Air Force in my career i’ve had 1 fatality on a job, the kid was high on cocane and made a bad choice acualy he made 2 bad choices 1st getting high anyway that 1 fatality was to many i’ll remember his face the rest of my life. This is like BP slapping the victems familys in the face unbelievable. How can they sleep at night?
July 19th, 2011 at 11:35 am
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-05/us/gulf.spill.bonuses_1_transocean-safety-bonuses-top-executives?_s=PM:US
Looks like 5 people did donate that bonus. If deaths happened where i work due to my decisions or my values, I’d be asked for my resignation.
August 30th, 2011 at 9:45 am
This “safety award” does seem luducrious on the surface. However, if the exec is saying their intern al safety numbers were improved, then it is understandable as to the measurement and award. Nevertheless, it will not be accepted well by the public and seems to be a bad idea. BUt, it is possible to have an overall good year in safety measurements and a terrible year in losses. Remember, just because a company does NOT have any injuries or deaths does NOT make them safe. Therefore, when a company does have injuries or deaths, it is not automatic that the company had a bad year in safety numbers. It is imperative to seperate the public perception from the scientific safety measurements when looking at internal numbers. But, the public perception must be considered before publicly handing out safety awards. Especially in these high profile cases.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:29 am
@Barry
I also understand and work with stats and I work in a large organization but I am having a very hard time with this……No matter what their internal controls are that they met and exceeded their safety targets?
Just what are their prior numbers and/or situations that this is an improvement? I believe the facts scream the opposite, however if this is an improvement then this is a very dangerous company. Dangerous not because of the type of work but because of what they are considering acceptable……..
@Robert H above has it right and as for the public perception that is not a factor in the actual stats but should have been a major consideration in the press release. Donating their bonus’ is a nice gesture but that changes nothing. The link above about how the bonus’ were calculated just annoyed and frightened me where I work there would have been hell to pay on all levels…………