"Bottom line" may have trumped safety in Deepwater Horizon disaster

The New York Times reports today from a federal hearing in Houston on the Deepwater Horizon disaster. A rig worker who survived the explosion gave testimony at the hearing suggesting that financial concerns may have trumped those regarding safety. Under cross examination, for example, he stated that Transocean lost as much as $500K/day in rental fees from BP when drilling was suspended for repairs. The story's lede follows:

A survivor of the Deepwater Horizon disaster testified at a federal hearing Tuesday that his company gave financial bonuses to workers based in part on how quickly they made equipment repairs to an oil rig.

The testimony from Daun Winslow, a performance division manager for Transocean, the rig’s owner, furthered concerns that financial pressure might have trumped safety on the rig.

The amount of “down time” for a rig was a small factor in calculating bonuses, Mr. Winslow testified, although other factors, including the rig’s environmental impact, customer satisfaction, individual performance and safety were also considered.