Chevron refinery fire and the blame game
Every time I follow a crisis, I think of the old Kris Kristofferson song, "Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame?" Anyone that has been in the business of crisis management for any length of time knows that media coverage of a crisis follows three phases:
- What happened? This is the initial coverage of the incident and is focused on the immediate impact of the incident: how many injured, what damaged occurred, etc.
- How did it happen? This phase generally starts the day after an incident as more information becomes available. This where we see the special graphics showing cause and effect and get the expert analyses about what happened.
- Who's fault is it? This phase comes quickly on the heels of the second phase and reflects our habit of fixing blame rather than the problem. We believe, rightly or wrongly, that someone must have caused the incident, either deliberately or through negligence and should be held accountable.
In the aftermath of Monday's explosion and fire at its refinery in Richmond CA, Chevron is clearly well into the third phase of media coverage. The big question that is emerging is whether or not Chevron staff should have shut down the refinery immediately upon finding the leak. Safety experts argue that while the leak appeared minor, it could only get worse and such an escalation could result in a major incident. The implication is that Chevron should have considered this and put the cost of the shut down ahead of the safety of the workers.
I find this type of blame game pointless. The motives behind a bad decision are not really relevant unless they involve criminal negligence and can be distracting. The real issue is how do we prevent similar events. I'm also concerned with other aspects of the crisis that didn't get much mention because we're to busy trying to blame Chevron. Of much more concern to me is that the county-wide warning system took almost ten minutes to activate and proved inadequate to the task of notifying those citizens more at risk.
Meanwhile, Chevron is responding well. The company has accepted full responsibility and is providing compensation for medical and property expenses incurred by citizens. Representatives of the company participated in a rather uncomfortable public meeting. This morning Nigel Hearne, the refinery manager, wrote an editorial for the San Francisco Chronicle apologizing for the incident and reiterating his company's commitment to safety. He also highlighted Chevron's contributions to the community and willingness to work with the community to make improvements.
Whether Chevron's efforts will be enough to get them quickly through the third phase of media attention will depend on how willing the company is to taking swift, concrete action to allay public concern.