The BP Oil Spill Disaster

In the year 2010, April 20: BP Oil Disaster

In the year 2010, April 20, a BP oil disaster took place which resulted in the deepwater horizon and subsequently a blowout. Most people were injured, and eleven people confirmed dead. The disaster, the oil spill, created a negative image on the intentions of BP. This disaster had caused a lot to clean water. The oil spilling disaster for BP resulted from the mistakes of BP, which failed to work on their quality resource management. Besides, there was a case court at the time regarding the actions of BP on clean water. Several penalties had been imposed on them during the time of this disaster. Millions of gallons of oil were lost during the occurrence of this disaster.

The Incident Command System

The Incident Command System was applied in this oil spill disaster. The services of ICS were given via the Unified Command for proper coordination. From the various archival sources and interviews, there was an anticipation of occurrence of disordered spraying of water with salt using private boats (Martinez et al. 2010). These worries were later confirmed when this incident occurred since BP was a private boat. It failed to adhere to this early warning hence making a strong case against them. The oil spillage caused significant side effects on the water system.

Disaster Recovery and Continuity of Business

The company should carry out a plan for disaster recovery and continuity of business such that in case of any disaster, they are in a position to get back. The company should also professionalize the office of a CISO, Chief Information Security Officer (Jensen & Thompson, 2016). The officer should be thoroughly analyzed and assessed since he/she is the chief officer in security matters. They must design policies that align with the objectives and programs of the company regarding safety. as such, a CISO position should be supported and strengthened so that managers within the organization are assigned relevant security guidelines. Additionally, BP should empower workers. Workers are the most crucial elements in the performance of the company. BP should protect their rights and defend them from corrupted or rogue employees who break the rules for their gain.

Commanders and Span of Control

The commanders who dealt with this disaster came from different locations- Houma, Alabama, Louisiana, Mobile, and Miami Florida. These commanders always deal with a disaster in their capacity by using the resources and authority given to them. Later, they report their findings to the National Incident Commander. The incident commander analyses the pieces of investigations and proceeds to finalize the details of the disaster Jensen & Thompson, 2016). This whole process is called span of control. The span of control helps in signifying the numeral of juniors held by a supervisor. The commanders were committed in drilling waters to avert further damages while various women were assigned duties to clean the oil damages.

Conclusion: Workers' Empowerment

In conclusion, the primary consideration that BP ought to have followed is the workers' empowerment. If the workers are not satisfied with the work policy, the company will experience intentional losses. This situation may arise since the workers will do a shoddy job, which is likely to lead in disaster or damages like the case discussed (Repanich, 2010). Such employees who are disgruntled can get access to sensitive information and use it illegally for their gain. The name of the company may be put in a mess by rogue employees if the access to confidential information goes on for a long time. In such a way, the image or the value of the market can be adversely affected, and lose the company in the process.

References

Jensen, J., & Thompson, S. (2016). The incident command system: a literature review. Disasters, 40(1), 158-182.

Martínez-Gómez, C., Vethaak, A. D., Hylland, K., Burgeot, T., Köhler, A., Lyons, B. P., ... & Davies, I. M. (2010). A guide to toxicity assessment and monitoring effects at lower levels of the biological organization following marine oil spills in European waters. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67(6), 1105-1118.

Repanich, J. (2010). The Deepwater Horizon spill by the numbers. Popular Mechanics, 10.