Non-technical skills: enhancing safety in operating theatres (and drilling rigs)

On April 20th 2010, a large Transocean drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon was operating in the Gulf of Mexico to drill the Macondo well, for the oil company BP. The job was six weeks behind schedule and $58 million over budget and had not been without difficulty: it was a high pressure well, 2.5 miles below the seabed. At 5.45 am, the Halliburton cementing engineer sent an email to say: 'We have completed the job and it went well'. At 9.43 pm, 16 hours later, there was a release of hydrocarbons into the well bore and the drilling rig experienced a catastrophic blowout as the high pressure oil and gas escaped onto the rig and into the ocean. The resulting explosions and fire killed 11 of the crew of 126, injured many more and created an enormous oil spill across the Gulf.