January 27, 2007 — HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Najmedin Meshkati of the USC Viterbi School wrote an op-ed about the report by the British Petroleum Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel, chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker. The panel's report, initiated after a 2005 explosion at a BP refinery in Texas, offered recommendations including strengthening the refineries' "safety culture." "[C]reating a safety culture means instilling attitudes and procedures in individuals and organizations that ensure that safety issues are treated as high priority," Meshkati wrote. The report should be an impetus for action, he advised. "In order to improve the safety problems of refineries, we need to improve the safety culture of this industry and proactively address human and organizational factors." Meshkati researches safety in complex, large-scale technological systems and he created the USC Process Safety Management Program in 1992, the article noted. 

Jan. 23, 2007, 10:23PM
How refineries can create strong 'safety cultures'
Baker panel report needs implementing industry-wide
By NAJMEDIN MESHKATI