The Bhopal disaster took place in India in 1984 at the UCC plant, more than 40 tons of methyl isocyanate escaped out of a faulty valve killing over 3800 people instantly in the town of Bhopal. It caused many thousands more to suffer greatly, and die from significant morbidity, and premature death. The significance of it all has been very catastrophic, it is considered to be the worst “man” made disaster. The company tried to divert attention away from its self to avoid accountability. However ultimately they reached an agreement through the courts through mediation and reached an amount of $470 million dollars in damages; this was a very small amount considering the true cost of it all. The reason for this major catastrophe had all started with the plant being built in a light industrial commercial zone, not a hazardous materials zone. Trying to push the envelope, and make more money the plant took on greater responsibility and more of a project. The plant was originally approved only for formulation of pesticides from component chemicals, like MIC imported from th...
dangers in the nuclear plant because the bosses just ignored it. The bosses and workers are not
On the 26th of April, 1986 unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power station was taken off the electrical grid to perform an experiment in which the reactor would be run at low power. The Chernobyl power station, which is located in the present day Ukraine and is approximately 12 miles south of the border with Belarus, did not react as designed and unit 4 proceeded to spiral out of control. The unconstrained fission reaction which followed resulted in a steam explosion that poured radioactive material into the atmosphere. To this day Chernobyl is the largest and farthest reaching nuclear disaster in human history.
The disaster which occurred on the 15th of October 1970 and the tragedy of the 35 deaths was utterly unnecessary. That it should have been allowed to happen was inexcusable. There was no sudden onslaught of natural forces, or no sudden failure of new or untested material.
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.
After the Bhopal Disaster, Union Carbide made an ethical decision through their legal strategy to secure the best outcome for themselves and to keep their company from going bankrupt multiple times over. Union Carbide used the corruption of the Indian court system to their advantage to minimize the amount they would pay in damages to the victims. Their strategy wouldn’t be considered moral to the victims of this chemical explosion if the trial were kept in the American court system. What is ethical isn’t always considered moral to all the parties involved. With a company facing bankruptcy and losing everything they had, the only ethical decision was to use the court systems to their advantage. By doing so, they made the ethical decision strictly
The accident investigation indicated that BP focus on cost-cutting and high production caused the serious deterioration of safety regulations at the refinery. The spill resulted from the company’s fail...
Chernobyl, one word that still strikes pain and fear in the hearts of many, even after 28 years is still causing serious damage. It was largest nuclear disaster ever, Chernobyl was “. . . about 400 times more potent than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II . . .” (Walmsley “26 years on: helping Chernobyl's children”). The disaster was not immediately seen as a large threat, and this is why so many lives were taken or destroyed.
On April 17, 2013, the community of West, Texas, suffered a devastating and heartbreaking event in the evening hours. After a fire broke out inside the West Fertilizer plant, a massive explosion leveled the facility, caused millions of dollars in damage to surrounding buildings, and took the lives of over a dozen people. Sadly, the majority of those killed were volunteer firefighters who had responded to the fire and were unable to retreat to a safe distance before the explosion. Nearly 200 injuries were also reported to have been treated at local hospitals (Wood, 2013). The explosion was said to be caused by the combination of the fire and large stores of ammonium nitrate fertilizer at the plant.
“On March 23, 2005, at 1:20 pm, the BP Texas City Refinery suffered one of the worst industrial disasters in recent U.S. history. Explosions and fires killed 15 people and injured another 180, alarmed the community, and resulted in financial losses exceeding $1.5 billion.” (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2007) There are many small and big decisions and oversights that led to the incident. Underneath all the specific actions or inaction is a blatant disregard for addressing safety violations and procedures that had been pointed out to BP even years before this event. The use of outdated equipment and budget cuts also contributed to the circumstances that allowed this accident to happen.
A single slip in action may cause lasting sorrow. A slight mistake in operation at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal of India causes a lot of deaths and injuries. What a tragedy it is. Undoubtedly, there must be something wrong with the management of the plant.
"The History of Plant Incidents at Formosa Plastics and Past Safety Violations." Industrial Injury Attorneys. http://www.industrialinjuryattorney.com/Industrial-Accident-Blog/2013/May/The-History-of-Plant-Incidents-at-Formosa-Plasti.aspx (accessed April 3, 2014).
A further look at facts of the incident, analysis of the risk management issues and evaluation and recommendation of BP’s response to the crisis will be presented in this report.
Imagine more than half of the population of Kenosha being over-taken by a deluge of water without warning or the ability to escape. On December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, occurred in the Indian Ocean off of the Samaritan coast, triggering the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. Before the tsunami, this region of the world was one of the most sought after vacation spots. After the record-breaking destruction, the pristine beach front and inviting residents were forever changed. The regional damage was so massive that it demanded a response on a global scale for rescue, recovery, stability, and to rebuild this treasured place.
The Aral Sea Disaster Abstract The Aral Sea and the entire Aral Sea basin area have achieved worldwide notoriety due to the environmental disaster. The example of the Aral Sea disaster has sent a signal to the entire international community demonstrating how fast and irrevocable the environmental system can be ruined if there is no long-term thinking and planning in place. This paper gives a broad overview of the policies that have resulted in dying of the forth-largest inland body of water. It concentrates on the policies and approaches of the international organizations towards the problem, describes examples of the projects and presents a conclusion on effectiveness of such policies. Introduction The Aral sea used to be the forth largest inland body of water.
Two main theories have been published on the cause of the industrial accident that occurred at the Union Carbide pesticide plant: employee sabotage and corporate negligence. Following the events that took place in Bhopal, there were two investigations conducted. The initial investigation was jointly conducted by the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation. The Union Carbide Corporation also led an investigation headed by chairman, Warren Anderson, and consisted of medical and technical experts, including Jackson Browning. Union Carbide claims that their investigation was hindered by the Indian Government and they were not allowed to interview emp...