Investigation of Falsified Safety Test on an Offshore Drilling Rig

We opened an investigation at the request of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), after BSEE inspectors suspected that a safety test conducted in June 2012 aboard a drilling rig operating in the Gulf of Mexico had been falsified.

 

The BSEE inspectors found suspicious test documentation for a blowout preventer (BOP), which is a critical safety device designed to quickly shut in a well if something goes wrong to protect the platform, its workers, and the environment from uncontrolled releases of oil and gas. Federal regulations require well operators to test BOP equipment frequently and maintain documentation of the testing. Manipulation of test monitoring equipment is strictly forbidden under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

 

The contract employee who performed the test admitted to manipulating the test recording device. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana accepted the case for prosecution, and the employee pleaded guilty to violating the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.