Wall Street Journal, Nov. 9, 2010

The federal panel is seeking to move beyond findings that rig workers "didn't consciously put costs ahead of safety."
"The problem here is that there was a culture that did not promote safety and that culture failed," said Bob Graham, co-chairman of the panel created by U.S. President Obama. "Leaders did not take serious risks seriously enough; did not identify a risk that proved to be a failure."
William Reilly, the other co-chairman, said that "BPthe evidence is they are in need of top-to-bottom reform."
He said that "we know a safety culture must be led from the top, and permeate a company."
Possible root causes are the subject of current hearings.
Steve Lewis, a drilling engineer...... said one reason that rig workers may have missed red flags is that the well was designed as an exploration well with only the possibility of producing oil-...... when workers shifted to developing a production well after oil was discovered, BP may have had to rush to put new plans in place.

The hearings have a long way to go and it is too early to predict the outcome or what the conclusion will be. It begins to look like none of the three major participants will escape blame.