Bos 4010 Safety Supervisor- The Assessment Answers

Bhopal, India

• A brief introduction of the scene and the accident,
• Safety and health impacts of the accident,
• A statement on the legal aspects of the incident,
• An analysis of the key points from a project management perspective about the incident and accident, and
• A summary of the article's conclusions and your own opinions.

The Bhopal Incident:

The Bhopal Tragedy

The 2^nd of December1984 marks an unforgettable night for Bhopal- the capital of the state of  Madhya Pradesh-and India in general as it is the night of the leakage of the deadly methyl isocyanate at the American carbamate pesticides company, Union Carbide. Unfortunate enough, all the safety systems meant to contain the leak were not operational allowing nearly 40 tons of gas to find its way to Bhopal’s airspace. The number exposed to the gas at the time was half a million with its effects still seen to date. The death toll currently stands at 25,000. It is undoubtedly one of the worst industrial disasters in mankind’s history.

The accident has had various safety and health impacts. According to De (2012), one of the health impacts included lung abnormalities. The study by De (2012) established that gas victims were more at risk of pulmonary function abnormalities that their non-gas exposed counterparts. Others, as reported by Mishra et al., (2009) include pulmonary fibrosis, bronchial asthma, and recurrent chest infections among others. In addition, there was immune system hyperresponsiveness among expectant women after exposure to the gas in their first trimester (Mishra et al., 2009). Moreover, the safety impacts entailed a development and adoption of relatively strong and enhanced chemical process safety standards and practices. An awareness campaign was conducted on the magnitude of the effects in the event of an accident. New regulations have been put in place including one dubbed Responsible Care (Virginia Transportation Research Council, 2017).

There were legal aspects to the accident. After a series of civil proceedings,the victims of the accident were to be compensated, and this did not occur up 1989 that Union Carbide settles with the Indian Government to a sum of $470 million in compensation (Legal Services India, 2010). However, reports indicate that the victims were never involved in the discussions. Also, there were criminal proceedings. The then CEO of Union Carbide Warren Anderson was charged with culpable ‘homicide not amounting to murder’although he never stood trial. Charges the corporation have also been futile owing to the fact that it has refused to stand trial in India (Legal Services India, 2010).

In project management, despite the fact that every personnel is responsible for observing safety precautions, it is the management that should champion the above mentioned by integration of safety into every aspect of the of the project, thus ensuring that ‘safety first’ is one of the project’s core values and not just a slogan (Terrell, 2000). The manner in which the leak occurred demonstrates negligence on the management’s part with regard to safety precautions. Further,the company claimed the incident leading to the accident was an act of sabotage. It is the duty of the management to anticipate the possible actions of disgruntled employees so as to avert any acts of sabotage. If at all it was an act of sabotage, it implies the management was negligent in its policies of system handling. Additionally, with the knowledge that their was storage of one of the most dangerous industrial chemicals, management of the storage area should have been without fault.The poses the question as to whether a Safety Observation System was in place(Terrell, 2000).

Some of the conclusions from the studies outlined above outlined that there may be other unique abnormalities that have not been uncovered; in addition to the need of understanding the possible mechanisms of toxicity in exposed individuals. Even though there exist lots of unanswered questions, the fact remains that it is the victims and the people of Bhopal that should be the focus since the effects of the disaster are still felt till date.

References

De, S. (2012). Retrospective analysis of lung function abnormalities of Bhopal gas tragedy affected population. The Indian journal of medical research, 135(2), 193.

Mishra, P., Samarth, R., Pathak, N., Jain, S., Banerjee, S., &Maudar, K. (2009). Bhopal gas tragedy: review of clinical and experimental findings after 25 years. International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health, 22(3), 193-202.

Virginia Transportation Research Council. (2017). The Safety Impacts of Differential Speed Limits on Rural Interstate Highways - FHWA-HRT-04-156. Fhwa.dot.gov. Retrieved 7 June 2017, from https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/04156/

Legal Services India. (2010). Legal Aspects of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Legalservicesindia.com. Retrieved 7 June 2017, from https://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/legal-aspects-of-the-bhopal-gas-tragedy-373-1.html

Terrell, M. S. (2000). The project manager's role as a safety champion. Paper presented at Project Management Institute Annual Seminars & Symposium, Houston, TX. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.