Essay on Gas Incident in Bhopal: An Accident With Deadly Consequences

Introduction

Some industries handle hazardous chemical gases or liquids which might be highly flammable, reactive or toxic. In an event of equipment failure, some of these gases or liquids become released accidentally into the atmosphere under uncontrolled circumstances (Theodore & Dupont, 2012). Such incidents have contributed to huge losses involving life and property. For this reason, this paper uses a typical case of a gas incident in Bhopal, India to show how accidental gas eruption can cause deaths and discusses the application of safety management requirements under OSHA.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Overview of the Bhopal India Disaster

The Bhopal, India disaster was a gas incident involving a pesticide plant known as Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL). The incident occurred at the wee hours of December 3rd, 1984 where methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas escaped from the plant into the atmosphere causing a monolithic death of over 5,000 people and others suffered various injuries and died later making the number of deaths to go beyond 10,000 (Broughton, 2005; Union Carbide Corporation, n.d.). Before the tragedy, UCIL was operating below standards than its sister plant in West Virginia in terms of using safe equipment and procedures (Broughton, 2005). The safety issues facing the company came to the attention of the local government but the latter was reticent to subject the plant under intense regulations of safety and pollution under the fear that such a burden would make the company to withdraw leading to enormous job losses (Broughton, 2005). Consequently, this would lead to economic losses.

On the night of the tragedy, a UCIL's operator observed a minor leak of MIC gas which had the potential to increase due to the heightening pressure in the tank. With faulty safety devices that had been switched off for some time and a faulty valve permitting water for cooling the plant to mix with MIC, pressure and exothermic reactions continued building up in the tank (Naron, 2015). Eventually, a loud rumbling echoed all over the plant with a plume of MIC gas clogging the atmosphere from the faulty safety valve. In a short while, thousands of carcasses and corpses were scattered all over the streets of Bhopal under a blanket of poisonous gas neither medical practitioners nor the UCIL had knowledge about its impact (Naron, 2015). The hospitals became overwhelmed with massive numbers of injured people seeking treatment amidst the crisis. Considerably enough, it is deducible that the Bhopal Chemical disaster turned out to be one of the worst catastrophes in the world.

Safety Management Requirements Under OSHA and How They Apply

Since the Bhopal gas incident, there was a major process of safety management established in the U.S. known as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA established the process safety management standards for chemical industries. The standard laid out provisions for managing hazardous chemicals using a comprehensive program that encompasses technology, procedures, and practices while integrating 14 obligatory elements affiliated with the requirements of the U.S. Congress of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) (OSHA & U.S. Department of Labor, 2000). The elements required companies using flammable and toxic substances to establish a risk management plan that would be revised on a semi decade basis as per the provisions of part 1910.119 of the safety standards.

The safety management covered in part 1910.119 provides ways of mitigating the effects of accidental release of any chemical that is explosive, flammable, reactive or toxic to the atmosphere (OSHA & U.S. Department of Labor, 2000). These provisions could be applied to Bhopal disaster in one way or the other to mitigate the magnitude of the leakage in one way or the other. For instance, Section 1-6 of the safety management by OSHA requires employers to inspect chemical equipment whether they are designed as per safety regulations. In this line of thought, UCIL could have established a department responsible for providing resourceful information to employees regarding process and equipment safety. This would have been conducted through training of the employees where they are made acquainted with the procedural guidelines for hazard assessment, handling toxic materials, and conducting bulk storage effectively. In other words, this would resemble a risk management training

Another safety management guideline that OSHA advocates for is the right-to-know. Section 7 and 8 of OSHA affiliated with trade secrets, recommends that employers must avail information to everyone responsible for a company's existence such as the community, the employees, and other stakeholders (OSHA & U.S. Department of Labor, 2000). The management of UCIL was supposed to avail every bit of information regarding the safety of the plan to the surrounding community and the employees. This can help to influence business decisions the company pursues. Also, it can help the employees to constantly remember to assess the equipment for safety. On the other hand, the community would be well informed about the company and perhaps take precautionary measures to ensure they are safe. This implies that the company would involve the community in various discussions at different points to develop a relationship which exhibits corporate social responsibility.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the Bhopal gas incident could have been accidental. However, it could be also due to the fault of UCIL to conduct safety assessments. The incident being one of the worst of all times, left many lessons to be learned including the establishment of OSHA to guide chemical industries on how to instill safety measures. It would be essential for chemical plants to adhere to OSHA's provision the best way possible to avoid future tragedies likely to lead to massive loss of lives.

References

Broughton, E. (2005). The Bhopal disaster and its aftermath: a review. Environmental Health, 4(1). doi: 10.1186/1476-069x-4-6

Naron, W. (2015). Documentary The Bhopal Disaster INDIA Nat Geo [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsuUQzhP2Ds

OSHA, & U.S. Department of Labor. (2000). Process Safety Management. Retrieved 13 February 2020, from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3132.html

Theodore, L., & Dupont, R. (2012). Environmental health and hazard risk assessment: Principles and Calculations. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Union Carbide Corporation. Bhopal Gas Tragedy Information. Retrieved 13 February 2020, from http://www.bhopal.com/