Don't Be All You Can Be

Well, it's been nearly fifty days since the BP Deep Water Horizon drilling platform exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico and estimates of the amount of crude oil gushing out of the broken well, still range from a cup or two to a gazillion gallons. It's hard to imagine that a cup or two could cause such a large oil slick, now about the size of South Carolina, so I think it's fair to say that the estimate is more on the high side then the low side. One thing you haven't heard anyone say is that it's rare for such an accident to befall such a well known and respected corporation as BP that has such a stellar record of safety. The reason you don't hear that, is that they have a deplorable record. In fact, they have the worst record on safety in the industry. Now of course, somebody has to have the worst record, just like somebody has to have the best record. If you keep score, then it follows there will be the best and the worst. But there's a reason for companies to have best records. They have to work at it. To have the worst record, you don't have to work at it. In fact that's mainly how you get the worst record. By not working at it. In fact if you want to be the worst, you have to do your best to avoid getting any better. Now, I know, you think that's silly. Nobody would intentionally want to be the worst. And BP is no different. It's not that they want to be the worst, it's that they want to make the biggest profits. Now, if profits are uppermost in your planning and if you can save on production costs by ignoring safety, then you go for it. If that means you wind up paying some fines, well, that's OK if it means you make more profits. Fines are a legitimate cost of doing business if you're a bottom feeder. But. If you have a catastrophe on your hands, like this Gulf thing, then you might wish you could get your life back. I wonder if BP wonders how this could happen to them? Why me? You don't suppose that safety was a non-issue on the Deep Water Horizon, do you?