Bhopal Union Carbide Case analysis

One of the worst cases of catastrophic event in history is the Bhopal Union Carbide case.
Nearly three decades ago, the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal India had a devastated tragedy. The toxic chemical and methyl isocyanate gas leak from the plant killed thousands of civilians who were sleeping and injured hundreds of thousands of people in the nearby neighborhood. For those who survived from this catastrophic incident had injuries ranging from blindness to suffering burns of the skins. The cause of this accident was due to the lack of safety standards and the decision making of Management of Union Carbide in the U.S and management in India in which it played a huge role on how this incident unfold and the many lives that were affected by this horrific accident. The Union Carbide manager in India’s overlooked at safety issues that could have clued them to the problem that needed to be resolved. And if management had a high priority for the safety of their employee’s well-being instead of profit, this situation could have been avoided. After the incident, it was a matter of who was responsible and who will compensate for the injured victims.
Furthermore, there were several ethical issues raised by the Bhopal Union Carbide Corporation. First and foremost important ethical issue to be address is the moral value of protecting the human life. I think the management team from both the United State and India did not protect the well-being of their employees and the community of the Bhopal people who lived near by the plant. The Union Carbide Corporation was more concern about making profits and the Government of India was more in tune with increasing their grain production rather than emplacing a high priority for ...

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... corrective action plan for the oversight. This will show their constituents that they are being proactive and taking full responsibility in their social responsibility duties in correcting the error. In Union Carbide’s case, the company stepped up and addressed various oversights that needed corrected. In addition, they implemented an action plan to ensure that this incident does not happen again and provided relief aid to all of those affected by the incident. For example, they continue to provide medical equipment and supplies, and offer $5 million dollars to the Indian Red Cross.

Works Cited

Ed. Carl Mitcham. Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Vol 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. P182-283.

The Incident, Response, and Settlement. Bhopal Information Center . Web 20 Nov. 2013