INTRODUCTION: A curtain of gas rapidly dispersed over Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India without warning, causing hemorrhaging, muscular convulsion and blindness – leaving its victims defecating and urinating in their clothes – wishing for death. In the dark early hours of December 3rd, 1984, children, elderly – men and women of all ages were dying from a poisonous methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas poisoning which treacherously leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant. The leak of MIC gas and other toxic chemicals resulted in the immediate death of an estimated 3,828 people. By the end of its peregrination the gas leak caused the death of an estimated 15,000 people due to the poor condition of the valves and lines in the plant; namely the failure of Tank 610 that contained 42 tons of MIC – much more than safety rules allowed. This system failure, invoked India to take action early on by arresting those they felt should be held responsible. They also provided medical aid for victims, started up an investigation and took the case to the Supreme Court where a settlement was made. Furthermore, there were many efforts to clean up the area and dispose of the contaminants plaguing Bhopal and to warn the populace of the potential hazards and dangers in surrounding areas and in the water supply. The United States and India were not the only countries taking action; Canada, too, responded to Bhopal by creating the Major Industrial Accident Council of Canada (MIACC) in 1987. The world is affected by the cataclysm until this day and rigorous time and effort has been dedicated to finding the causes and potential solutions to these atrocious malfunctions. Though peace may never be attained by those touched by this devastation; the ... ... middle of paper ... ...sociated. "Seven Convicted over 1984 Bhopal Gas Disaster | Environment | Guardian.co.uk." Latest News, Sport and Comment from the Guardian | The Guardian. © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or Its Affiliated Companies., 7 June 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. . "Process Safety Management Guidelines for Compliance." A Canadian Perspective of the History of Process Safety Management Legislation. Murray Macza ACM Automation Inc. – Canada, 2-3 Sept. 2008. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. . Statement of Union Carbide Corporation Regarding the Bhopal Tragedy. Union Carbide Corporation, 2001-2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. . The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons from Bhopal p. 19 (1993)
The case study The Blast in Centralia no. 5: A mine Disaster No One Stopped is a useful lens through which to identify potential pitfalls for national security organizations. The most powerful lessons that ought to be learned by the case study are twofold. First, political interference in the work of governmental organizations can lead to dysfunction and mission failure. Second, the failure to conduct independent oversight over a governmental organization—especially when its performance has been openly questioned—permits that dysfunction to continue unabated.
At the end I come to conclusion that BP was not properly prepared for any disaster like that there risk assessment related to project is very limited and even not considered seriously about it for their own progress and putting live of public and employees in danger by not following the standard SOP of particular project. Even after incident happened they try to close their eyes on reality. The company should take this incident as alarm and should implement proper risk assessment for future and also compensate damages on ethical ground and if they counter this situation in good way their loss of bad reputation will be lesser as it predicted to be they should considered their responsibility towards society as well by doing this they not only making other people lives better but also earning good will to their company.
...health problem from oil and BP shareholder lawsuits etc. However, BP didn’t assume responsibility even though the investigation indicated BP had most mistakes. As the firm shirked responsibility with other companies, BP didn’t show an ethical corporate culture. Compared with Enron scandal, BP didn’t do any fraud or false accounting. However, as both of these companies claimed that the company’s conduct code is compliance with government and safety regulations, their company scandals revealed that the company didn’t comply with profession ethics, even the regulations. Against Enron scandal and The BP oil spill, several regulations were published, such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Restore Act and so on. These new legislations effectively control the company’s unethical and illegal behavior, also good for the prevention of the similar company scandals’ happen in the future.
Safety rules and regulations can reduce or eliminate unsafe behaviors. Safety rules are designed to reduce or eliminate the risk of workplace injuries. Safety rules may consist of eliminating hazards, policies to protect its employees, and workers must follow these rules (Bernardin & Russell, 2013). It might include policies on work behavior, guidelines, rules on workplace safety, and instructions on ho...
Professional Safety, 46(10), 20-25. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=5367632&site=ehost-live&scope=site McGuire, C. (2011, April). Workplace Safety 100 Years Ago! Safety Compliance Letter(2524), 1-6.
"Workplace Safety." Labour Program. Government of Canada, 17 Jan. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
OSHA regulations give full disclosure to employees about workplace hazards. Businesses that produce or import chemicals of any sort must review the dangers associated with these chemicals and have them labeled accordingly. They must also prepare material safety data sheets to go with any delivered chemicals. This will describe technical information as well as hazardous effects from exposure and the appropriate protective measures. Any employees wh...
BP was founded in 1908 under the name Anglo-Persian Oil Company. They changed their name to British Petroleum in 1954 and merged with Amoco in 1998. (BP Public Website, 2010) “The Texas City Refinery is BP’s largest and most complex oil refinery... It was owned and operated by Amoco prior to the merger of BP and Amoco.” (Michael P. Broadribb, 2006) Throughout their history, there have been a number of accidents that have been caused by negligence and disregard of safety precautions. Unfortunately many lives have been cut short or seriously injured as a result. My research will focus on the 2005 Texas City Oil Refinery Explosion. I will attempt to look into the ethical implications that surrounded this disaster before and after the event and suggest what BP could have done to prevent the incident then and in the future.
Obama, B. (2013). Statement on the Explosion at the West Fertilizer Company Plant in West,
Arnold & Porter chose to sue Pittston rather than the Buffalo Mining Company because the value of the corporation allowed for adequate compensation to the victims. Author and head lawyer for the plaintiffs, Gerald M. Stern, writes that the original goal was sue to sue for $21 million for the disaster to have a material effect on the cooperation (51). To avoid responsibility Pittston attempted to prove that the Buffalo Mining Company was an independent corporation with its own board of directors. The lawyers for the plaintiffs disproved this claim by arguing the Buffalo Mining Company never held formal meetings of the board of directors and was not independent of the parent company. During this case Pittston’s Oil division had applied to build an oil refinery in Maine. The ...
In addition to the plant, the governments related in India that issued permits and provided incentives for the plant, Bhopal community officials who permitted slum dwellers to move near the plant in illegal settlements, Indian environmental and safety inspectors should also be responsible for this. The governments related in India issued permits because people need jobs, or people would starve to death. This was one reason in my opinion. Soft money from Union Carbide plant may be another reason for issuing permits. It was clearly that the governments in America would not issue a permit to Union Carbide plant under such circumstances, which lacked of severe environmental standards and permitted slum dwellers to live near the plant and so on. Such actions were the fuses leading to more deaths. Before the major gas leakage from the MCI unit on December 3, 1984, some people were killed because of phosgene gas leakage. However, no one took it seriously in spite of the report by media. One of the reasons that people ignore this was because people didn¡¦t know the potential danger of the chemical plant. The other reason was that there are not enough environmental inspectors to cover so many plants in India. Besides, those inspectors had a record of loose enforcement. Consequently, danger emerged just as the saying goes ¡§Nothing comes of nothing.¡¨
She moreover mentions few noticeable features of Regime-Made Disaster like: though the disaster is fully visible, but citizens are trained not to recognize it as a disaster consequently it is a long time event and develops according to various phases. This kind of disaster represented as a non-disaster or as a disaster only from the victim's point of view. And finally," the means used by the regime to deal with the disaster or to cope with its aftermath do not offer a sweeping solution to end the disaster, but instead focus on side issues and/or are aimed at individual case" (Azoulay,2012:31). To talk about the history of Regime-Made Disaster she says "the first half of the twentieth century saw several regime-made disaster par excellence that were not grounded in democracies, but the second half of the twentieth century has produced disasters that take place within and as a part of the structure of democratic governance itself" (2012:29). Although she is talking here about the century-long history of
Many references to human error are associated with high-profile catastrophes. The publics concern over these high-profile catastrophes puts human error in the spotlight. Some examples of human error catastrophes include: the Tenerife runway collision in 1977, Three Mile Island in 1979, the Bhopal methyl isocyanate tragedy in 1984, the Challenger and Chernobyl disasters of 1986, and the Piper Alpha oil platform explosion in 1988. While these catastrophes put human error concerns in the spotlight, the human error impact on manufacturing operations can be just as detrimental.
Regulation compliance, employee safety, fire safety, ergonomics, industrial hygiene, hazardous waste removal, training procedures, and management relations are samples of features taken into consideration during a Safety Major’s day. Though there are numerous specializations safety professions can choose, a base knowledge in all fields is essential for a successful career. Therefore, I intend to pursue a continuation of safety certifications that will demonstrate a persistent ability to learn about my career. For the initial duration of my profession, I hope to obtain an Environmental Health and Safety specialist entry level position for an established organization. If the opportunity arises, I will promote within the same organization until
Employers have a legal obligation to inform employees about safety and health standards that apply to their workplace. Employers must establish a written, comprehensive hazard communication program to ensure that employees who work with or near hazardous materials...