The end result of cutting costs?

As I was listening to the talking heads this morning discuss recent discoveries related to the Deepwater Horizon rig and BP’s knowledge of the problems that existed at the rig prior to the accident, what really struck me was at its very core, the worst environmental catastrophe of our lifetime was a cost vs. benefit analysis and instead of evaluating the Return on investment of investing money and time to correct known problems, BP made a decision to cut cost versus improving safety.

As all business owners do, I am consistently evaluating ways to decrease cost, increase efficiency and improve revenue.
Instead of looking at their long term Return on Investment by investing in safety, BP chose to cut costs despite known risks and maximize short term profit.

As a resident of the Gulf Coast, I am saddened by the complete ineptitude of British Petroleum and our government to resolve the crisis and it remains to be seen how many and how much will be forever negatively impacted by BP’s short term “model”

My company allows other business owners a cost effective means to invest in their greatest assets, their employees and do so at a minimal investment via our corporate driver training program.   DefensiveDriving.com’s online driver safety program provides a way in which to meet the minimum standards required by OSHA and I am confident enough in my program I will allow you to test for free.

If you have ten employees driving and you have decided not to provide driver safety training, in a way aren’t you doing relatively the same thing BP did, taking a short term approach to cutting costs versus investing in safety?