Transocean to donate safety bonuses to rig victim fund

[The Straight Story]

Transocean to donate safety bonuses to rig victim fund

Transocean’s senior managers will donate bonuses they received for the company’s 2010 safety performance to a memorial fund set up for families of the 11 men who died in the April 20, 2011 Deepwater Horizon rig accident.

The company said in filings last week that 2010 was its “best year for safety performance” ever according to the way it gathered safety statistics. That meant its executive team was eligible for 115 percent of its safety-related bonus goals, although those bonuses were reduced to 67 percent of the target because of the 11 deaths last year.

Regulators and members of the public expressed outrage at the bonuses. The company apologized and on Tuesday said the funds would be donated to the Deepwater Horizon Memorial Fund Transocean set up last year.

“The executive team made this decision because we believe it is the right thing to do,” said Chief Executive Officer Steven Newman in a statement. ”Nothing is more important to Transocean than our people, and it was never our intent to diminish the effect the Macondo tragedy has had on those who lost loved ones. We offer our most sincere apologies and we regret the impact this matter has had on the entire Transocean family.”

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/04/05/transocean-to-donate-safety-bonuses-to-rig-victim-fund/