Disastrous Decisions: Human & Organisational Causes of the Gulf of Mexico Blowout

by Andrew Hopkins

Disastrous The Human and Organisational Causes of the Gulf of Mexico Blowout takes the reader into the realm of human and organisational factors that contributed to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. This event resulted in the loss of 11 lives in the explosions and fire, the sinking of the rig and untold damage to the environment and to the livelihood of Gulf residents. It is important to know what people did, but even more important to know why they did it, so this book attempts to get inside the heads€ of decision-makers and understand how they themselves understood the situations they were in. It also seeks to discover what it was in their organisational environment that encouraged them to think and act as they did.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Stuart-2 Gunput · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I’ve read concerning human and organisational factors contributing to the disaster.

[Felipe Nobre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very objective report on the human and organisational causes for the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Hopkins refrains from broad generalizations and unwarranted conclusions (and even devotes a few pages to dismissing some of the most common instances of those) and mostly stays in his area of expertise. 

[David Harvell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book presents a clear look at industrial processes and Human Factors applied to decision making. The lessons from this book easily apply to airline operations. I found the book to be informative and thought provoking on the subjects of industrial decisions and processes. Very concise!

[Evan Kostelka · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book I read for work but a great review of how management decisions lead to failures in general and more specifically to the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico. Will give you a bigger perspective on how small decisions can have enormous consequences

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Well written for readers that are familiar with drilling and those that aren't. Much more engaging than I expected. Thought provoking regarding process safety.