Bill Campbell, a much respected former Group Auditor of the oil giant, Shell, this week took the exceptional step of writing to all members of the UK Houses of Parliament - every MP and every member of the House of Lords - to bring to their attention a "Touch F*** All" safety culture at Shell.

Senior officials at Royal Dutch Shell Plc had sight of Campbell's alarm bell warning to over 1000 British legislators before it was sent.

The following are excerpts of the warning.

Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.

Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.

My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea.

In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.

I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed.

In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.

When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.

Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.

The full text of the warning sent to UK legislators can be read via the following link, from which evidence is also accessible:

http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2007/07/27/offshore-workers-died-as-a-result-of-a-touch-f-all-safety-regime-at-shell/