CSRBP have been involved in many incidents regarding their
operations and the impact it opposes on the environment. The most notorious
environmental disaster cause by BP is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; the
effects of the oil spill are still being felt today.On the 20th of April 2010, 200 million gallons of
oil was spilt into the Gulf of Mexico and BP were held accountable; as the
disaster killed 11 people and injured another 17, it is considered as the worst
environmental disaster of human history. The oil spill covered up to 68,000
square miles and could even be seen from space, the impact the oil spill
imposed on marine wildlife was atrocious. The Gulf of Mexico was estimated to
be the residency of 8,332 species of marine wildlife; the most severely
affected were birds, sea turtles, fish, invertebrates, plants, mice, dolphins
and whales. To make the situation even worse, BP decided to spray 2 million
gallons of toxic dispersants into the oil spill radius. Unfortunately, the
dispersants did not reduce any of the oil left in the Gulf; instead the
particles broke down into smaller pieces making the oil more toxic for wildlife
and easier to enter the food chain. BP were able to clean up 25% of the oil
spilt into the Gulf of Mexico however, after numerous attempts to contain the
flow of oil, the oil well was declared as sealed on the 15th of July
2010. Oil had been seeping into the waters of the Gulf continuously for 85 days
and 16 hours before the well was sealed; however, it was reported that oil
continued to leak from the site in 2012.BP is still being fined today for the oil spill that
occurred 8 years ago. As of January 2018, BP’s total compensation pay-out is
equal to $65 billion. BP hold the record for the largest corporate settlement
in all of US history when they were prompted to pay $18.7 billion in fines
around July 2015. Around 384,000 business and individuals filled claims against
BP for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. When taken to court regarding an
investigation into the oil spill, BP were prompted to pay another $28 billion
in clean-up costs and damages claims. BP were prosecuted in court under felony
charges for the 11 individuals who died in the oil rig explosion, BP plead
guilty to the felony charges and were prompted to pay a further $4 billion. BP
also paid $12.6 billion to settle a variety of lawsuits stacked against them.
On the 16th of January 2018, BP agreed to paying a further $1.7
billion in compensation costs.

BP have made drastic changes to their outlook on ethical
sourcing and sustainability. In BP’s 2010 sustainability report, they mentioned
that “In response (to their environmental snafu), we are developing and
implementing a comprehensive programme to strengthen safety, risk management
and compliance across BP.” They announced many changes to their methods of identifying,
assessing, controlling and evaluating risks in their 2010 sustainability
report. Following the Deepwater Horizon accident, BP reconstructed and
reinforced their scope of operation and accountabilities regarding health and
safety and hazards. They announced the implementation of a Safety and
Operational Risk (S&OR) function used to combat and exterminate risks and
hazards from their business operations. The function’s objectives are to
strengthen mandatory safety-related standards and processes, including
operational risk management and to assess and enhance the competency and
capability of their workforce in matters related to safety and operations. BP
have integrated S specialists within all reaches of their company; in
addition to this, BP also allocated a member of their most senior executive
team to be the head of the S division. The Operating Management System
or OSM provides BP a company-wide framework for which they can drive a rigorous
and systematic approach to safety, risk management and operational integrity
within the company. BP’s S&OR function is in charge of overseeing and
auditing the company’s operation throughout the globe, assuring that operations
are carried out in line with the OSM. S have the authority to intervene
in all safety and operational risk aspects of BP’s activities.