Federal Panel Believes in Need for More Offshore Safety Progress

The Oil Spill Commission Action, a federal panel that was formed in response to the BP explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, has released its 2nd report on the state of offshore drilling safety. The panel believes that there have been a lot of improvements made in offshore safety since the devastating explosion that killed 11 offshore workers. However, there is a lot of ground to cover, especially when you consider that oil and gas companies have now begun drilling in previously unexplored and uncharted territory.

According to the Oil Spill Commission Action, which conducted an intensive investigation into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, it intends to continue to monitor the drilling safety situation in the Gulf.

The Commission believes that offshore drilling is much safer than it used to be before the BP explosion, not just in terms of the industry’s commitment to safety, but also in terms of industry preparedness for a disaster like this.

However, the job is far from done. The Commission says that the risks of another disaster like this simply increase when offshore drilling companies move into deeper, harsher and uncharted waters. That is already happening, as offshore oil and gas drilling opens up off the coast of Alaska, considered one of the harshest environments in the world for drilling. Any kind of disaster here would mean almost unimaginable challenges for emergency response as well as damage containment.

The Commission finds that progress is lacking especially because Congress has failed to codify the various offshore safety improvements that have been made in the industry on the administrative level.

The Texas offshore injury lawyers at Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers represent persons injured in offshore oil rig and platform accidents in the Gulf of Mexico. Contact us today for a free consultation.