Prepared by:Rohit Dobaria

An Overview• Early hours of Dec. 3, 1984, Bhopal.• Poisonous Methyl isocyanate (40 – 43 tonnes)

leaked from Union Carbide plant.• More than 2000 people died & thousands injured.

(Exact data still not available. Approx. 1 person

dies every day because of effects of the gas.)

• The company manufactured “Servin” ( Carbaryl)• It was America’s 37th largest industrial corporation & 3rd largest chemical maker.• It had always been a stable company.• High safety records, Growth and Financial stability.

But within a day of tragedy the company’s stock prices dropped by 27%.

• No precise conclusion• Possibly three causes –

1.Equipment failure

2.Human error

3.Sabotage

However one lawsuit against the Company claims the corporation for its negligence in designing the plant.The technology used at Bhopal plant was inferior to the technology used in America & Europe.

Causes Of Disaster

• Some evidence show that Union Carbide was aware of some of the deficiencies at the Bhopal plant.• Two years prior to the tragedy, the company inspectors from U.S. found 10 major deficiencies.• Next year the Bhopal plant confirmed that all the problems had been solved.• The U.S. inspectors did not return to India to confirm this.

• The Indian government openly blamed Union Carbide for the tragedy.• There was a speculation that the disgruntled managers at the Bhopal plant might have sabotaged the system.• The gauges supposed to warn – not functioninng properly at that time.

•The plant was permanently closed.• Some compensation awarded to the victims and their families.

Considering what you have learned, what do you think happened at Bhopal?

Question : 1

• Approx. 43 tones of MIC was filled in tank no. 610C .• The maximum allowable limit for the tank was 50%, but the tank was filled up to 87% (43 tones).• Immediate cause of the pressure build up was the exotherimic reaction caused by contamination of water into tank 610C.• Due to pressure build up the safety valve was opened and gas escaped into the atmosphere.

• The refrigeration system was designed to cool the liquid at the temperature of zero degree celcius.• But the refrigeration system was shut down and water was poured around the tank to cool it. So the temperature was not maintained at zero degree celcius.•On the day of disaster the water leaked into the tank causing build-up of pressure and temperature.•Pouring was continued.•To prevent the tank from exploding the safety valve opened and released the gas.

Do you think that Union Carbide did not exhibit social responsibility by designing the plant less than fail safe, if at all ?

Question : 2

• The technology used at Bhopal plant was inferior.• The maintenance and safety standards were lower compared to the U.S.& Europe plants.• The company’s motive was to earn more profits.• Almost none of the safety systems at the time of disaster were functioning.• The Vent gas scrubber was designed to take feed rate of 190 pounds per hour at 35 degree C at the pressure of 15 psig.But at the time of disaster MIC poured through at the rate of 40,000 pounds per hour at 200 degree C and 180 psig.• The vent gas scrubber contained inadequate quantity of caustic soda.

• Water curtain/spray could rise upto 13 meters while the gas evolved at the height of 33 meters.• The mandatory refrigeration for MIC unit was shut down for three months to save money.• Other plants in U.S. & Europe had a safety system automatically control with manual back-up devices.But they were manual at Bhopal.• There were not any emergency planning measures and local authority knew nothing about the dangers of MIC.• Union Carbide was aware of all these deficiencies but in order to cut the cost no measures were taken to improve the condition of the plant .

• This has led to loss of thousands of lives.• Also the company paid only $ 470 million as an amount for compensation against $ 3000 million demanded by the government of India.• From this amount each victim received $ 500 (only seven cents per day). This was a very little amount which equals to the amount needed for one cup of tea and a piece of bread.• So in true sense the Union Carbide didn’t exhibit corporate social responsibility.

• Would you hold Union Carbide ethically responsible for the death of thousands of Indians? If so, explain.

Question : 3

• Yes, the Union Carbide was ethically responsible for the death of thousands of people.• The safety system used in the plant was sub-standard. Also the parts used were of poor quality and older technology.

A series of incidences of gas leakage occurred in previous years. They are :

Dec 1981- A worker was killed while handling phosgene.

Feb 1982- 25 workers were hospitalized following leakage in pipes carrying chlorine, MIC and HCl.

Dec 1982- Massive leak of chlorine gas -16 affected.

1983-84- The events of leakage continued.

• In spite of this many number of incidences the company did not took any step to rectify the situation.• Also, the plant did not give vital information about the storage and handling of hazardous & dangerous material.• Effect of MIC on humans and the antidote treatment was not known to the medical fraternity and such knowledge if available was not disseminated to the emergency services.• There was an absence of proper warning system in the plant.•Economy measures, overriding safety concerns.

What, in your judgement is the possibility that either Indian management was less vigilant abouut their safety responsibilities or some one was responsible for committing sabotage?

Question : 4

• A series of incidences of gas leakage took place during the period of 1981-1984 in the plant.• Issue of danger to Bhopal from a pesticide plant was raised in the Legislative Assembly of the state.• An accident investigation committee examined the issue and concluded that the plant was fail safe.• The Labour Minister stated the assembly,”A sum of Rs.25 crore has been invested in the plant. The plant in not a small stone which can be shifted elsewhere. There is no danger to Bhopal nor will there ever be.”•This sort of negligence was responsible for the tragedy. So government was responsible.

• A research conducted by the U.S. officers regarding the sabotage had shown that there was no such involvement of a worker.• The U.S. officials left India without submitting the report to government of India.

Thank You