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Whistleblowers can save companies billions of dollars

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If someone involved with BP’s oil well drilling program in the Gulf of Mexico, had spoken up earlier this year, the company might have avoided damages that will currently cost it about $40bn to clean up spilled oil, but might escalate to cost it $100bn and break the company, said OAMPS Insurance national manager of oil and transport insurance services Grant Stillman.

  

Speaking to the Victorian Civil Contractors Federation annual civil construction conference in Melbourne yesterday, he said people not speaking up often cost companies billions of dollars. “BP took the cheap option with its Gulf of Mexico well, but had no contingency plans in place if anything failed. The result is a commercial tragedy and could destroy it,” he said.
Stillman said it was important that no-one underestimated risk in civil construction. “By recording everything that happens you can go a long way towards managing risk. Then speak up if things are not going as they should. The excuse, ‘I really didn’t want to rock the boat,’ won’t hold up if people lose their lives,” he said. 
He said OAMPS, which is the biggest Australian owned insurance company, had recently replaced its Earth Pack insurance policy with one called Civil Pack, which can be extended to cover the biggest civil construction companies’ needs including their risk mitigation strategies.
During the conference, CCF Victoria CEO Claude Cullino and OAMPS, announced Marcus van Enk from JHL Civil, as the winner of its joint OAMPS financed $15,000 future civil contractor leader travelling scholarship.  
Van Enk was unable to attend the presentation as he was at the time supporting his wife giving birth to a girl.
 


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