3 for Hall of Shame Forgot their School Lessons (1st up, BP)

July 22nd, 2010. By Hunter West

There are three events going on in the world right now that are downright shameful. And while the three are not at all related, there is enough of a common denominator to illicit a cry of, “what the hell???…” 

Item: BP somehow manages to unleash the worst oil spill in US history. The environment, fragile eco-systems and the livelihoods of thousands of innocent people are affected by the misguided actions of a few… 

Item: Toyota knew in 1996 that there was a problem with the steering rods in its sport utility vehicles (the 4Runner over here, but marketed under another name in Japan). Toyota quietly switched the rods to a better version, but didn’t tell anybody. It was only when the accidents started happening in Japan that they bowed to a recall in their own country. In 2004, eight years later. Oh, but the 4Runners in the US are fine, they said. 

A year later, in 2005, they recalled more than 900,000 vehicles 1996 and prior… 

Item: More than 1000 war veterans will have to be tested for communicable diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV after staff at a VA hospital did not properly handle dental equipment. The result: the instruments were not properly cleaned and sanitized, opening the door for innocent people to become sick with a potentially deadly disease through no fault of their own. 

What do all these have in common? 

Simple—it’s what we learned in school, stupid. Do as you are told. Don’t cheat. And live by the golden rule. 

The oil industry admits it does not have a foolproof method by which to respond to an out-of-control oil well. After the events of the last several months, that’s all too obvious. But there are protocols and processes in place—well known in the oil industry—that are designed to mitigate the risk. This is how it is done, folks. So do it this way. 

But it wasn’t done that way. Corners were cut. Things were rushed. Rules were ignored and instructions were not followed. In school that would earn you an F and a trip to the principal’s office. 

Toyota had a problem with defective steering rods that, one might suppose, the company expected would just vanish into thin air. But defective parts in cars don’t behave that way. They fail, and innocent people get hurt and die. But Toyota, presumably hoping that no one would notice, waited eight years to trigger a recall and that was only after they were backed into a corner because of a police investigation. 

As for the US, there’s a rule that says you have to report a safety issue or defect within five days to government regulators. Toyota didn’t do that in 2004—a rule about which they were well-informed. Here’s another rule we’re taught in school: learn from your mistakes. One imagines Toyota fell down on that one too, because they’re about to pay a US $16 million fine for not owning up to problems with rapid acceleration, sticking gas pedals and ill-fitting floor mats. 

And then there is the VA hospital. Here’s how we handle the instruments, folks. Hey, you trainees, listen up! Stop talking and pay attention. Used dental instruments need to go into a special machine for cleaning and sanitizing. Do NOT wash them by hand in soap. That WON’T work. You COULD be responsible for passing a communicable and deadly disease to innocent patients by not listening, not paying attention, and not following protocol. 

In school, you would get flunked for that.

Okay, perhaps they were not adequately trained. That’s possible. Or perhaps they honestly felt that they were doing good—trying to better protect delicate instruments, one of the alleged perpetrators was reported to have said—improving the process, making it more efficient. 

Malarkey.

That’s why mechanics are not lawyers and attorneys could not walk into an auto shop, pick up a spanner and bang out a dent. You are trained to do a job, by those who are experts. They know what works and what doesn’t. You listen, you learn, and you don’t take matters into your own hands. 

The only people who are allowed to do that—push the envelope, experiment with fate—are researchers. And they do what they do, in completely controlled conditions.

They are trained in the best way to research, or invent new stuff. They know how to do it. If they deviate from that protocol, it blows up in their faces. 

That’s essentially what happened with BP, with Toyota and with the VA hospital. Big boys and girls who, when they were little, perhaps didn’t follow the rules. Didn’t listen. Didn’t believe in doing their homework, didn’t believe in the axiom, ‘do unto others…’ Maybe they were daydreaming during the, ‘there is the right way, and the wrong way to do something’ lesson. ‘And here’s what happens, kids, when you deliberately choose the wrong way just because you think you’re smarter, or better than anybody else.’ 

The world is tilting off its moral compass because either the kids aren’t learning, or they’re not heeding as adults what they learned as kids: 

Honesty. Integrity. Preparation. Follow instruction. 

Make it right. 

No wonder there are so many bloody lawsuits today. With so many people, so many corporations abandoning the basics of good moral (and corporate) character, whom can they turn to but the attorneys? 

For gosh sakes people, do it right the first time. Or don’t do it at all. 

I remember seeing that on a blackboard in middle school somewhere, too… 

Tags: BP, BP Oil Spill, Toyota, VA Hospital, Veterans

This was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Personal Injury . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.