Training is an essential part of any sound risk management strategy, experts responding to the Deepwater Horizon disaster have claimed.

Speaking to the New York Times DotEarth blog, historian and physicist Spencer Weart insisted that regulators can reduce the risk of disasters such as the Gulf of Mexico spill by identifying the root causes of technical failures.

"All great engineering catastrophes [have] resulted from a combination of bad initial design, bad instrumentation that concealed the developing problem and bad training/procedures," he explained.

Elsewhere, economist Ken Rogoff has likened the management of oil spill risks to managing risks of financial catastrophes, drawing out points of confluence such as the "unfathomable complexity" and lack of transparency seen in both the Deepwater spill and the global financial crisis.

BP has invested heavily in training since the spill began on April 22nd as it seeks skilled personnel to respond to the crisis.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development